Lifted
by BerryCoffeeCake
Summary: Dr. Tenma and Astro have disappeared. Metro City is still a wreck after the fight with the peacekeeper and morale is low. The government wants Astro in town for a speech to give the people some hope, but Astro just wants one thing. Astro X Cora
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Astro Boy or any of it's Character's. This story was written purely for entertainment purposes. Characters not part of the Astro Boy 2009 Movie or Animation Series and that were made up by me will be noted within the chapters by an Asterisk. (*)

Summary: Set seven months after the event of the movie. Metro City is still in shambles and no one has any idea where Astro is. Morale is low, and to make matters worse, people who had once lived on the surface have begun returning to Metro City in droves believing that things have changed now that "everyone's feet are planted on the same earth" so to speak. President Logan wants to have Astro at his side for a speech to cool down the public but not even is willing to give any information on where Tenma and Astro are. It's better than it sounds. Please read. AstroxCora

Chapter One

"You should really get a shave, Rob."

Emily Niele*, Secretary of State to President Robert Logan of Metro City sat a cup of coffee down in front of herself and leaned in closer to look at him. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was pale from having been shut up in his office for two whole weeks. She glanced to the left slightly. She needed to talk to him and didn't want to get off topic…but there was an odd smell emanating from behind her on the other side of the office. She focused her eyes back on him. First things first. After a second or two more he finally made eye contact with her.

"Did you get hol' of Elefun? Er' Tenma?"

"No, Rob. Would you like a cup of coffee? Or better yet…a ride home? You shouldn't spend so many hours in the office each day. I'm sure your wife and kids miss you."

"Can't..gotta find Tenma so I can talk to him about-"

"Rob. It's two A.M in the morning. You've been calling Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun for months now and neither of them has answered you. Have you ever considered that maybe this is a problem you're just going to have to try and solve on your own?"

Emily gazed at him with what she hoped was the sourest expression she could muster. She and Robert had known one another since they had been children and the one thing she knew she could always get him to respond to when he was depressed was her scathing, disdainful, 'get-off-your-butt-and-be-a-man' look. She'd grown up with one of those thin faces with sharp cheek bones. Her narrow ice blue eyes which almost looked like lines when she squinted, added to the cruelty of it. She'd even used that look to scare the former President Stone in the last election. Robert's facial expression did not change so she stopped and let out an exasperated sigh.

"There are still sections of Metro City that don't yet have electricity Robert! People are rioting in the streets over living space because of the people from the Outlands trying to move in!- We can't wait on a call back from Tenma to release his Robot Son to us for a damn Peace Speech!-Are you even listening to me right now?"

"Yes."

"No you're not."

"I am! I know that I've got to get to work-I HAVE been working! Look at me for fucksakes Emily!"

Emily's eye's swept over his dingy white dress shirt and beige coffee stained trousers which looked surprisingly loose on him. He was trembling slightly from having stood up so suddenly, and the slight breeze he'd made from having done so, sent an offensive smell wafting up her nose. He needed a shower too.

"I know how bad things are alright? I know!-"

"Then if you know why do you keep talking about making a SPEECH? People want the insurance money for the family members they lost when the City fell-not a SPEECH! People want a place to live! They want food and jobs, and they want to send their kids back to school! You had all the time you needed to make speeches during the campaign and it's over now Rob! You won and you're in office! You've got to stop sitting in this office like a zombie trying to call a scientist-!"

"WILL YOU SHUT YOUR FACE, AND LISTEN TO ME FOR A MINUTE?"

Emily was rearing all the way back in her chair. Rob was right in her personal bubble…his bright, but still very tired eyes blaring into hers. If he were to jut his chin out….his blonde bristles would've tickled her top lip. Being of a naturally combative nature, had it been anyone else she probrably would have socked him one right his nose for yelling in her face like that…but Robert Logan was her best friend as well as her President. So she sat and continued to frost him.

She nodded and he backed up. He walked over to the office door and stuck his head out and called for his office bot which entered a moment later brightening the room with lights and stirring up the room with its clicking noises. It hovered over to the corner by the window and then looked up questioningly at Robert. "Yes sir? Had you wanted to start off from where we were before?" The robot made to press it's 'record' button.

Robert made a gesture to the Office Bot. "Hold up a minute…"

Emily folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Well Rob? My face is shut. You gonna talk?"

"I'm going to ignore your acidity for now Emily. The reason I want to talk to Dr. Tenma is because I want to use Astro to inspire the people of Metro City into positive action!"

Robert began pacing around the office. "Can you imagine where we'd be if he hadn't slowed the fall of the city? Can you imagine where we'd be if Astro hadn't stopped President Stone and the Peacekeeper? Who do you know that doesn't like to see a hero? We could get everyone mobilized and get Metro City back on its feet! It wouldn't only just be the construction robots and rag-tag teams of college volunteers anymore!"

Emily already knew his reasoning behind wanting to contact Dr. Tenma about Astro. She let her eyes wander around the office in other places during Robert's impassioned speech. _'It's a good idea...it really is…but given what happened before with President Stone…does he really think Tenma'll whore his son out to the Government? Even if it IS for a good cause.' _

Once Robert was done he turned with a feverish, but optimistic look on his face. "So you see now why I want to use Astro?"

Emily stared. Robert was starting to wobble on his pins. She looked around the office again at all the dust and clutter and filth. The desk was stacked with papers he had yet to look at and several half empty cups of water. During his ramblings she had discovered the source of the smell she'd picked up earlier. On the other side of the room, behind where she had been sitting in front of Robert's desk, were about 12 , 2-liter soda bottles…with urine in them against the wall in a line. It was obvious he hadn't let a Cleaning Bot in here in a long time.

She glanced back up Robert. He was a man she had a good deal of respect for. They'd grown up together. Graduated from high school together and he'd always confided in her about his hopes and dreams. She had even been there with him on his wedding day and during the births of all three of his children. And now here she was sitting with him in his office watching him slowly lose his sanity.

"Yeah Rob. I understand. And as your Secretary of State I'm going to help you achieve your goal." She stood up and let the ice from years of both political, and life struggle melt from her face and held out her hand. She'd found out all of what she'd needed to know tonight. Robert Logan needed someone to take his place so he could rest and get his mind together…and in the mean-time he needed someone to make things happen in his stead. And it looked like it was going to have to be her.

(A/N: Sorry if this first chapter is boring. I know it doesn't seem much like an Astro Boy Fanfiction not having the main character in it yet, but I wanted to do a more realistic kind of Astro Boy...sort of anyway. I always felt like at the end of the movie, seeing how Metro City was pretty much destroyed wouldn't their be A LOT of people who'd be really unhappy? Rather than have everyone cheering? And what about the buildings that had been on the bottom? What if people were living in those and they died? Wouldn't there be SERIOUS over crowding if people from the surface started moving in? lol I'll stop now. Anyway, basically this is supposed to eventually be a romance fic between Astro and Cora so it does get better! Again, sorry if this chapter was horrible and boring and short. I'm trying to get better. T.T Don't burn me please reviewers!)


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: Thank you Magnacarta for your nice review and your advice! I really appreciate it! I also want to thank anyone else who gives me a review be it positive or negative ahead of time as I started this chapter almost immediately after I read Magnacarta's. lol ^^; I just wanted to be sure someone would be willing to read it before I continued. In this chapter I'm going to be telling stories about where different people are within all that is happening in Metro City right now, and you'll get to see some of the big issues my character Emily was talking to President Logan about at the beginning. And the best part? You get to see where Astro and Tenma have run off to. )

Chapter Two: The Thing's I Wish You Knew

"I hate this place."

"You too?"

Zane looked to his left and to his surprise saw the ginger-haired Grace standing next to him. He had not expected to see her so early in the day. She was usually kept busy in the kitchen and in the laundry rooms washing dishes and folding laundry with the other little girls her age. The owners of the so called children's home had had he and all the older boys from the surface out working in the dirt with the construction robots for the past seven months which was where he had been all that day…drudging through mud, and the driving rain and hammering nails where robots couldn't and adding an extra back where one was needed.

Grace usually carried a mean, rakish, expression on her face which she used to keep the bigger girls in the kitchen from bullying her but at the moment she looked like she was really wanting a hug and Zane held up his hands and demurred.

"Look at me dude.", he said smiling as cheerfully as possible, and making the mud that had made its way onto his face crack as he did so. "I'm too dirty to hug you. You don't wanna get your laundry dress the children's home gave you dirty do you?" The past few months had made Zane forget how much Grace had always hated girly things being put into connection with her name and what she said next made him instantly regret having uttered the word 'dress'.

"I don't give a flip flying FUCK about this dress, OR this shit hole Orphanage!" Grace pinned him with her trademark 'I –WILL-KILL -YOU' stare, and then proceeded to take off her laundrer's dress.

Zane would have freaked out had he not discovered seconds into it that she had a shirt and basketball shorts on under it. He stood there frowning at her for a bit before finally holding out his arms slowly. "You can hug me if you promise to stop cussing so much. We're not at Hamegg's anymore Grace. People actually come here to look at kids to KEEP. And I promised Cora I'd look after you guys."

Grace flattened her short skinny self against him frowning. "I don't want to promise that. How come people can't just accept their kids for who they are. Personality and all that crap? If someone comes to look at me I don't want them to only see my face." She looked up at him through his arms smearing some of the mud from his t-shirt onto her face and into her hair. "Don't you agree Zane?"

Zane nodded. "Yeah Grace. But just…try to relax it a little still though okay? When you grow up you don't want people thinking that's all ya' know how to do, alright?"

She nodded and released him looking a little more cheerful than she had before. "Gonna go back and _–shiver-_ clean out the sinks from today's lunch." Grace snatched up the dingy yellow dress and ran from the room waving goodbye at him from behind herself.

"Awright. See ya when you get done then!" Once Grace was gone Zane sighed and looked around the sleeping quarters of the older boy population of the Metro City Children's Home. It was going to be hard trying to pretend he was sleeping somewhere else tonight. He'd been in this place way too long. When he'd lived with Cora and everyone else at Hamegg's he'd always dreamed about what it would be like to live in Metro City and be waited on hand and foot by robots. After Astro had defeated that crazy President/Robot thing everything had seemed like it was gonna get better…not all come down to …this. The Social Worker that had brought he and the other kids here had painted a much rosier picture of where they would be going.

Zane watched as a small mouse poked it's nose out one of the old couch cushions they were given to use as pillows. There were about 30 beds in this room, and not everyone had their own either. Zane himself had opted to sleep on the floor when he'd first gotten here, having seen who was to be his bunk mate. It was a boy named Nate Peter's everyone at the orphanage spent a lot of time punking and getting over on. Zane wasn't really that kind of guy himself, but he could definetly see the attraction. Nate made it easy. He was absolutely disgusting, and had a lot of really nasty habits. He had a pretty foul odor too. Even for Zane, and it wasn't like he spent much time in the shower himself. Nate was one of those really pale, shaky kids that picked his nose and put the contents in places no one would think to be wary of. He also liked to eat odd things that had no nutritional value whatsoever. Zane had once seen him swallow a glob of paste and then just work it down like he was dissolving a delicious gourme piece of chocolate in his mouth.

If the cold, vermin infested, rooms and hard labor weren't bad enough there was also the low quality food they received on a daily basis. They had the same thing to eat pretty much everyday. They were given a thin piece of pan sausage, and cold oatmeal in the morning for breakfast. They had green beans and tuna sandwhiches for lunch, and some kind of weird soup with brown stuff floating around in it for dinner. Cooking was about the only thing they didn't have to do for themselves each day, but it was little consolation for the rats and roaches they had to swat off their pillows each night and the work they were forced to do.

The directors who were supposed to be caring for them all, were hardly ever present and when they were it was only to make sure that the people that they had hired to keep the place running were doing it as cheaply as possible, which was why Zane and kids as young as Sludge were out doing construction work within the city to make extra money and do the heavy work around the building, and why Grace and little Widget were stuffed into a tiny kitchen washing dishes and doing laundry. They didn't want to actually have to buy robots or pay any adult's to do the work so the kids were all basically running the orphanage all on their own, which, when he thought about it, Zane really didn't understand how something like this could be going on right smack-dab in the middle of a such a supposedly great city.

He felt a slight pang of anger and regret as he continued to look out the window. It was still raining out. It seemed like such a travesty that it should even be possible for it to rain in Metro City. It was even more of a travesty that there was such a thing as mud and orphange's here too. When he'd first come here he'd looked out this window, and even though the city he saw was a pale shadow of its former self he had been so excited to be here. But it had become so far removed from what he'd imagined it would be like that he'd cried into his dirty couch cushion on the yellow and blue checkered floor on many an occasion when he'd thought everyone in the room was in a deep enough sleep not to hear him. Zane wasn't a push-over, a punk, a weeny, or any of those derogatory names that tended to be put on a teenage boy who happened to cry on a regular basis. In all actuality he was really a pretty tough kid. Before he'd ever met up with Cora or any of the others he'd lived with his mother and father in the most bare-boned, poverty stricken area in the Outland's. He could remember his mother trying to make a game out scrounging food out of dumpsters so she could feed him, and how his father had tried as hard as he could to earn money just to get them something decent…or rather get Zane something decent. There was never enough for all of them, and when he had finally gotten old enough to understand that concept, he ran off away from them not wanting to be a burden on them any longer. No. Zane wasn't a punk and he wasn't any stranger to hardship by any means, but it still hurt to have your dreams crushed. Cora had been right when she'd told him Metro City wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and he wished he listened. Hamegg's garage seemed like a world away now. A paradise compared to this dingy Orphanage. It didn't matter now though. Things were, how they were, and there was no changing them now.

He took one last look out at what he could see of the city, and then turned and walked towards the door to the outside hallway. He really needed to wash all this mud off.

**Cora**

Cora pulled her hood tighter around the sides of her face and then folded her arms in as she walked through the throngs of people all having lately moved into Metro City from the Outlands. There was a pungent odor in the air. A mix of both human and animal waste all settling in one area. Because so many veteran resident property owners of Metro City had refused anyone from the Outlands apartments and houses to rent, a lot of people had ended up pitching tents in alleyway's and in public squares and parks.

The center of the city had been the most severely damaged in the fight and it was there where a lot of the construction effort was being made. That was where Cora was headed now, to go take her mother a lunch. She was one of the two repairmen for the robots that did the work there. A slew of Social Workers had barreled down on her and the other kids about two or three weeks after Astro's big battle with Stone. She'd been sent back to live with her mom. Cora had never actually really been a run-a-away. She and her mother had just always had a certain understanding about things. They didn't have the played out stereotypical 'Lifetime Channel' mother daughter relationship. They didn't yell and scream at one another all the time, and they didn't cry and eat ice cream together when one of them was sad. When Cora was old enough to want to go outside and do things, her mother simply let her go with a, "Be back before dark." The only thing they had ever really argued about was when Cora was around eleven and she'd started hanging out with Zane and the other kids at Hamegg's garage. Cora's mother had always had a personal interest in robotics, and she agreed that Hamegg was talented in his way…but she just didn't approve of his use of the robot's he repaired. Fixing a robot just so you could break it again was a waste. She did want for Cora to learn a trade though…and what better trade was there than robotics in a place like Metro City? She had let the Hamegg issue go, and it ended up, instead of Cora having to be back before dark, she just had to ,"Come home and get something to eat and a shower once in a while." She had realized early on when Cora was a small that going to actual school was just something she wasn't going to be able to make her strong willed little girl do, so she took to home schooling her up until she started spending night's at Hamegg's. There was a bit of a gap in Cora's learning, but it wasn't such that it couldn't be made up for when there was time, and that's the way both Cora AND her mother both felt about it.

Cora looked around her. The square she was in was full of tents and port-o-potties and people walking to and fro. Her mom's work tent was just a little farther up ahead past the big fountain in the middle of the square where some people could actually be seen washing their dirty laundry. There seemed to be a lot more people in this particular square than there had been the last time she had come up here. Cora walked on, shoving her way through the crowds of small children and families that were mucking and drudging around the area. She never liked being out here during the day when all the refugee's were awake. It made her feel uneasy…and nervous..and just…uncomfortable.

Once she got up to the beige tent she walked right in, finding her mother hunched over a small robot on the repair table. The other two repairwomen were off on the other side's of the tent working on others. All of them wore the same uniform. Blue, oil-stained overall's with black t-shirts underneath. "Mom…got your lunch." Cora walked over to the table on the right side of the tent and sat her mother's lunch pail down. "I made you tuna…your favorite right?"

"Mhm. Thank you, Cora." Cora's mother turned around wiping her hands briskly over her blue jean overall's, speaking over her shoulder to let the robot on the table know she'd finish with him in a few minutes. She was a petite woman, not that much bigger than her 14 year-old daughter, really. The white name tag on her overall's read:_ *Ms. Demimia Roberts. _She had black, shiny, hair that came down to the middle of her back when she wore it down which was usually when she was at home and relaxed, but at this moment it was pinned up in a bun at the back of her head, so as not to be in the way while she was working. Her eyes were also the same deep blue as her daughter's, but larger, and more alert in their appearance. She walked over to the table to where Cora was and held out her left arm for a half-way hug, which Cora gave.

"There's chip's too…and some pineapple juice I got for a good price."

"Pineapple juice…?" Demimia rummaged through the lunch pail and pulled out the small thermos of pineapple juice and looked at it gratefully at first, then suspiciously. First her favorite sandwich. Now her favorite fruit juice. She looked at the chips. Dorito's….Spicy-Sweet Chili Dorito's.. She sat the bag down and peered over at her daughter who was staring back at her very intently.

"You gonna eat mom, or just look at it?..", Cora asked, trying to make her smile appear as genuine as possible.

"I'm going to eat…what about you though? Did you eat the breakfast I left you this morning? The eggs and rice, and biscuits?"

"Yeah. It was really good…", Cora tried again to pull her face into a smile but it faltered halfway through. She heard the lunch pail snap shut and then heard it scrape against the table as her mother pushed it back toward her.

"Cora?"

"Yes?" Cora swallowed and looked down at her shoes.

"Did you eat _ANYTHING_ today?"

"…."

"Did you?"

"No, mom."

"Why not?"

"I just can't…"

"Is this some kind of body image thing Cora? Because if it is I-!"

Cora looked up from the floor back at her mother with a look of pure disdain on her face. Her nostril's flared out in irritation. " I thought we agreed we would never have any sissy-fied tweety-bird Lifetime Mother-Daughter talk's mom! I'm not bulimic or anorexic so don't go there okay? I don't have image issues!"

"Then why the hell are you pushing my cooking away? I don't watch Paula Dean's fat ass flounce around the kitchen for nothing! You haven't eaten in three days! You're losing weight Cora! It's bad enough I let you eat two day old pizza out of the garbage at Hamegg's, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be the one responsible for letting you starve yourself!"

"I'm not starving myself mom! I just…I just-! I've been thinking a lot lately..I just don't wanna eat alright? I'm not hungry!"

The two other construction repair women by this time had stopped their work to listen to the argument. The shortest, stoutest one stood looking over Cora's thin frame with disapproval. She leaned over to the woman next to her and whispered loudly, "Did she just say she let her daughter eat out of the trash? What kind of a mother is that?"

Demimia picked up the lunch pail and shoved it back into her daughter's arms. Her large blue eyes were starting to tear up slightly, and a pain was beginning to develop in her chest. She folded her arms over her chest and stared hard at Cora for a moment before speaking again. The last comment…the one she'd made about Hamegg's had just reduced her normally spunky, bright, smart allec teenage daughter into a puddle of tears.

"You miss them all that much? Those orphan's?"

There were about three or four construction robots with their heads stuck inside the tent looking on, wondering when the argument was going to be over so they could get their few minor repairs done. Demimia narrowed her eyes at them, and their head's, along with those of the other two repair women, went back to minding their own business. Cora was still crying. In a normal setting Demimia would've tried to comfort her with a hug, but to her, work was really no place for personal family issues, so she didn't make the attempt. She just waited until Cora calmed down enough to answer.

After another two or three minutes of weeping, Cora stood back up erect and looked back up at her mother who was still waiting for a response. She took a quick second to rub her sleeve across her face and the underside of her nose. "Y-yeah mom. I do. I miss them. A lot."

"And you want me to give you permission to go and see them?"

"No. I want your permission to FIND them."

"FIND them?"

Another robot stuck its head inside the tent. "Excuse me Miss Robert's, but-"

Cora moved to the side quickly as her mother let loose with a monkey wrench and a string of curses at the unfortunate machine. "I"LL GET TO YOU WHEN I'M DONE! NOW, PISS OFF YA' BUCKET OF BOLTS!"

Cora's mother turned back around. "FIND them? They'd probably be in an Orphanage somewhere in the city honey…"

"I know that…and Zane promised he'd try and write me to keep me updated on the kid's and I haven't gotten anything! I wrote down our address perfectly for him!"

Demimia frowned. "He's the one that has trouble spelling and reading right?"

Cora nodded. "Yeah…..but he was getting better with Astro teaching him! He even managed to spell MY name right a couple of times!" Cora gave her mom a pleading look. The very best one she could muster. She'd been going out of her mind the past few months wondering what was going on with everyone. She had no idea whatsoever what Orphanage they had all been taken to and the stress of not knowing whether or not her friends were safe, and happy had caused her to skip meals…and sometimes even forget she was hungry at all. Cora wasn't starving herself….she was just stressed to the point of forgetting her own needs. There was another part of it too though…but it was one she didn't really feel very comfortable talking to her mother about.

Demimia sighed heavily and unfolded her arms. "Can you wait until I get off work and get home before I give you an answer?"

Cora nodded and smiled. This time a much more genuine smile. "I'll eat something…I just wanna know that their all okay."

"I know hun. I'm still not going to eat that lunch though. You have it. And you eat my breakfast from now on too. Understood?"

Another nod. Cora started to back out of the tent.

"Cora?"

"Yeah mom?"

"I want to talk to about this…'Astro' when I get home, too. You say his name in your sleep pretty often." Demimia's eye's narrowed again, this time in suspicion. Cora paused right at the entrance. She had no clue at all what to say. She just stood there, hoping her ears weren't betraying her by turning their trademark pink when she was embarrassed. She ended up just giving her mother another quick nod, and then running out of the tent. From now on she was going to have to make sure her door was closed before she went to bed at night.

The trip back home to she and her mother's apartment was much faster than when she'd left originally. This time she decided not to try and cut through the refugee areas, and went through the less damaged areas instead. She wasn't exactly sure why they all chose to go to the heavily damaged places, but she assumed that there were a lot of men, and families who had come up from the Outland's who had hoped they could make some quick, temporary money by helping out with construction work. Too bad no one seemed to want to hire anyone who didn't at least know a little bit about robot repair though. It seemed they would rather just get as much work out of obsolete worker robot's as they could rather than put up with human workers. And who could really blame them when you look at it from a business perspective? You have to pay a human worker. You have to feed it. Make absolutely sure it's satisfied or it'll get all the other worker bees together and start a riot, and no one wants that. No. Better to just push the robots. Machines without souls or minds of their own. The generic personalities they carried the simple programing of some roboticisist at the Ministry of Science. You don't have to pay them. You don't have to be nice to them, and you don't have to feed them either. Just tell them what to do, and fix them when they break. That's it.

As these thoughts worked their way through Cora's mind she sat and nibbled on the tuna sandwich she had made and looked around at she and her mother's shabby apartment. It was situated on the lower end of Metro City. The part of the city where the low income families lived. It was a small two-bedroom apartment with a little kitchen…a little living room with a dirty, ratty, old couch and old T.V that actually had antennae's on it. Cora's room was about the size of a large walk-in closet. All four of the walls in her room were covered with picture's she had taken with friends, and Metal Band posters. Her twin bed which sat up against the right wall was totally bare at the moment. She had her and her mother's bed sheets in the wash. She wondered for a moment what Zane and the others were sleeping on. She hadn't heard anything good about any of the orphanages in the city from the people she'd asked. She also wondered where Astro was. He had all but disappeared with his father and Dr. Elefun after the fight. She looked down at the sandwich between her lips and laughed at herself mentally. She had just been about to ask herself the question. _"I wonder what Astro has to eat?"_. Back when he had lived with them as an Orphan at Hamegg's she'd always wondered why he just sat and picked at his food so much, or gave it away when someone asked for it without any hesitation. This thought made her stomach rumble uncomfortably. She sat the tuna sandwich down, and put her face in her hands.

"_Don't think about it. Don't think about it…."_

The other issue Cora had been struggling with the past seven months was what she knew had to be a serious crush on Astro.

When she'd first come back home she'd spent almost all her time with her mother, or running around Metro City checking Orphanage's for her friend's or stopping into the half-burned down postal office to see if she'd gotten any mail from Zane. She hadn't given a single abnormal out of the way thought to Astro until about two or three months ago when she was sitting on the couch watching _Robot Chicken _after her mom had gone to bed. The clip of the robot humping the washing machine had instantly put her in mind of him and she'd nearly snorted cherry flavored generic Kool-Aid out of her nose trying to picture him doing the same thing in a laundry-mat. She hadn't been able to get the thought out of her mind, and eventually, that funny thought made her think of all sorts of question's she wanted to ask. Did Astro know how to hump? Did he know what 'humping' was? What was his skin made out of? What were his teeth made out of? Do robots have robot porn? Then, later on the dreams started. The first dream had her waking up laughing. She'd dreamed she'd gone to the laundry-o-mat and Astro had snuck in like the robot on _Robot Chicken_ and humped the washing machine she was using. The one's after that were just too weird and uncomfortable to even think about.

Cora shook her head vigorously from side to side shaking out the memory of the last dream she'd had. She had to figure out some way to STOP crushing on him. She didn't even really have any idea WHY she was feeling this way all of a sudden. It was just…WRONG. They had been relatively close back at Hamegg's and even though she had to admit she'd given some thought to him as a potential 'boyfriend' back then, that was when she had thought him to be human just like her and all the other kids. She knew she had to make this go away somehow. She couldn't very well tell her mother that she'd been having pg-13 rated dream's about a _robot._ And for sanity's sake she hoped the dream's STAYED pg-13. Astro was her friend. A good _robot _friend. Albeit a very human looking, and human acting robot friend..but still …he had to STAY 'just a friend'. Yeah. She would just go and get some Trash and Vaudeville catalogues and stare at some hot Grind-Core band member's try to shake this. Astro probably didn't think about girl's anyway…..right? He probably thought about stuff like….computer chips…like normal robots. Yeah. That's definitely what he thinks about!

(A/N: Okay, I know some people will be a little upset at how I portrayed Cora as being in denial about her feeling's for Astro, but even though Cora can accept the fact that Astro is what he is, who's to say that would make her equally as quick to accept that she does indeed have feeling's for him? Feeling's for someone who isn't human? I don't think it would be right to just have them instantly already in love with each other so I decided to write it this way. Plus, I decided to make Cora a Death Metal fan in this story. She just looks like the type. Any who, I won't interrupt with my ramblings anymore! Last part of chapter two, coming up! )

**Tenma and Astro**

(A/N: One last thing. The Tenma in this story is the one from the 2003 series. Nicholas Cage just didn't do it for me. Sorry folks.)

*Dr. Ramsey looked from both Dr. Tenma to his robot son with deep concern etched into his weathered face. He'd been a family therapist for fifteen years, and this was the most unhealthy father-son relationship he'd seen to date..and he'd seen a lot. When his old friend, Pakadermis J. Elefun had called him and told him about these two he'd originally been very reluctant to take the case on, especially considering the boy, Astro, was not really a boy..but a robot. How do you conduct a therapy session for what's supposed to be just a soulless machine? He chose to disregard that though when he'd met Astro. This boy was definitely no average little cleaning bot. He'd cried. His face conveyed emotion. He'd yelled at his father like any angry wayward teenager during their first few sessions and this one wasn't any different. He didn't know anything about science or robotics but…. had truly…truly made a marvel.

He scratched at his thick grey beard, and brought his eyes back to Tenma, the father. Tenma was sitting bolt upright staring at his son with his mouth open in shock. He looked like he couldn't decide whether to be furious or just hurt. A few moment's ago, Astro had just revealed to him and his father that he had once attempted suicide when he was nine. Ramsey could sense what would be behind something like that, but it looked like Tenma wasn't seeing the bigger picture…just the 'My son tried to take his own life by throwing himself off the top of the stairs' part.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

"Because you wouldn't stay home unless I was sick or injured! You were always working! I just wanted some attention from you! I was really hurt you were always choosing work over me, so I thought maybe-!"

"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOU WHEN YOU HAVE A BROKEN NECK? YOU COULD'VE ACTUALLY DIED!"

"I _DID_ DIE DAD! OR DID YOU FORGET? YOUR STUPID ROBOT THAT YOU PICKED OVER ME BLEW ME TO _BITS_, AND THEN YOU GOT THE BRILLIANT IDEA TO REBUILD LIKE THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN! REMEMBER THAT SHIT DAD?"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SPEAK TO ME OR I'LL-!"

"DO WHAT DAD? _BEAT ME_ AND TELL I'M A WORTHLESS PIECE OF JUNK AND THAT I'M NOT THE REAL TOBY?"

Dr. Ramsey took this moment to intervene. "GENTLEMEN PLEASE!-PLEEEAAASSSEEE!"

They both snapped their head's around and looked at him, anger and heavy emotion written in both their faces. Ramsey let his eye linger on Astro a moment. The boy even had tear-ducts…and eyelashes and eyebrows. And was his hair actually swaying slightly from the breeze air conditioning? If he hadn't been told beforehand he was a robot, he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to guess otherwise.

"This is supposed to be a therapy session for the two of you…NOT a scream-off." Dr. Ramsey sat down his notebook and leaned forward in his chair. His small, beady, watery blue eyes went from father to son respectively. "We've been at this for nearly a month…and you two don't seem to be doing any better than when we started….so I have a proposal for the two of you."

They both looked at him attentively without speaking. Dr. Ramsey pushed forward.

"I believe the problem here is serious breakdown in communication. Neither of you listen's to the other..you just react! And I can't go about trying to fix the problem when you're screaming in each other's faces. So here's what I'm going to do…" He stood up and paced the little area in front the coffee table. "From now on, these sessions are going to be split into two thirty minute sessions instead of just the one. I'll talk to one of you for the first session while the other wait's in another room."

Astro and Tenma looked at one another and then back at the doctor and nodded.

"But there's one thing." Dr. Ramsey stopped directly in front of them and stared hard at them both. "The person in the other room will be able to hear everything you are saying. You two…especially YOU Tenma, have trouble just sitting and letting one other talk, so I think it would be best if I separated you. You'll be able to hear what is said, but you won't be able to respond until it's your turn and vice versa. Am I making sense?"

Astro nodded and narrowed his eyes at his father. "Yeah. Perfect. I can talk without him overreacting to everything I say."

Tenma opened his mouth to make a retort, but Ramsey cut him off by thumping Astro on the forehead lightly with the back of his hand. It was something Ramsey had done a couple of times during some of their session's…the first time because he was curious to know if his skin felt as human as it looked. The second time to stop him from ripping out a string of sailor's curses at his father that has caused the man rip out some of his own even more colorful one's right into his son's face.

"THAT, Astro, has to stop. NOW.", Ramsey said giving him another tap on the forehead.

Astro waved the man's hand away in irritation. "What? He does! Every time I say something, he-!"

_Thump._

"Quit! That's annoying!"

Ramsey took his hand away. "I'm sure it is. It's annoying to me that you keep making sassy remarks in order to get your father fired up and yelling at you. You seem to be an intelligent young man. I'm sure you can think of a more positive way to get attention when you want it."

" I DON'T WANT MY DAD TO YELL AT ME! HE JUST DOES! AND I'M _NOT_ TRYING TO GET ATTENTION!"

Ramsey smiled inwardly to himself. He had definitely hit a nerve there. Astro's eyes were welling up with tears again, and he had his fists clenched and his teeth bared. It was the classic look of someone who had just been called out on something deep and personal.

Dr. Tenma took advantage of the silence and looked at Dr. Ramsey from his place on the couch next to his son. Ramsey looked toward him and raised an eyebrow in question. "Yes?"

"We'll try it…that is…I'll try if he wants to. The separation that is."

Ramsey smiled outwardly this time. Two breakthroughs today…after nearly a month. Tenma had just attempted to follow advice he had previously given him about trying to including Astro in decision making, and he had only a moment ago gotten Astro to admit through body language, that he was extremely attention starved. He looked over to Astro who was now looking defiantly out the window at the broken remnants of Metro City.

"Do you want to give it a shot as well Astro?", he asked.

Astro didn't respond verbally. He just nodded rigidly.

"Then we'll begin tomorrow then. At the same time." Ramsey went over to the desk and picked up his notebook and tossed it in his briefcase. He heard the shuffling of feet behind him and then the sound of door closing. Astro had just gone into his room or what was his room when he and his father slept at Dr. Elefun's house. Ramsey turned and nearly jumped out of his skin. Tenma was standing directly behind him with a pained expression on his face. Ramsey frowned and stepped back a bit. He hadn't even heard him move…

"I need advice about something before you leave Dr. Ramsey..if you don't mind."

Ramsey nodded. Sometimes the way Tenma acted made him think there was more going on in his mind than just trouble dealing with his adolescent, robot son. His eyes were a very dark blue and eerily reflected everything he looked at. Ramsey could literally see himself in Tenma's eyes. It was rather unsettling, especially seeing as how Tenma didn't seem to hardly ever blink.

"Yes..certaintly. What is it?", he asked, taking another small step back.

"Do you remember when you told me that I shouldn't attempt to fix problems between him and me with my….profession?"

"Yes?"

"Well….there's been another issue lately….and I'm not sure how to go about…fixing it…without actually.._fixing it."_

"What do you mean?"

"He's been…locking up."

"Locking up…?"

"Yes….just stopping…and crying."

Dr. Ramsey tilted his head to the side. He wasn't getting what Tenma was trying to say to him. "Dr. Tenma…if you could…be more descriptive?.."

Tenma took a moment to think and closed his eerie dark eye's which made Ramsey relax a bit…until they popped back open again and he was presented with the image of his grizzled, old self for the second time.

"Sometimes…when I'm making improvements to him…or when we're doing that 'silent conversation' exercise you suggested…he tenses up..and doesn't respond when I speak to him. He stares….just stares… and then his eye-lights flicker..and he cries..and looks…like he's in pain."

Dr. Ramsey stood a moment before answering simply, "Oh.." He didn't know about any of Astro's abilities, so the word 'eye-lights' was pretty odd sounding to him.

Dr. Tenma continued. "I don't know what to do when it happens…so I just..wait until he responds to something I say. I'm not sure if it's something…emotional..or if I should just take a look to see if his programming is damaged in any way."

Dr. Ramsey nodded and scratched at his beard again. "Well..I'm not a robotocist Dr. Tenma, but…I stand by my earlier advice to you. You say during these 'lock-ups' that he cries and look's pained. To me, and like I said before, NOT a scientist, but that to me indicates something emotionally wrong…not physically..or technologically wrong."

Tenma nodded. "Alright..but..what would you suggest I do if it IS something emotional wrong…and not…physically wrong?"

"You said you try to talk to him? How long does it take for him to respond to you? What do you say?"

"I just call his name…Astro…sometimes his birth name…Tobio. Sometimes it only last's a minute or two…but the last time it was a full ten minutes…"

"Hmm. This is going to sound a little erm…on the odd side …but have you considered…physical contact?"

Dr. Ramsey couldn't help but laugh when he saw the way Tenma's face screwed up at that. It seemed all father-son pair's had an aversion to that word no matter how innocently he tried to say it.

"I just mean a hug Dr. Tenma. Or a shake. A slap in the face to snap him out of it, or a pat on the head even! I'm not trying to get you to molest the boy!" Ramsey continued to chuckle as he walked toward the door with his briefcase, and his overcoat under his arm.

"I'll be back tomorrow at the same time Dr. Tenma. Good day!"

Ramsey exited out into the hall where his good friend Elefun sat waiting. He stood up upon seeing Ramsey walking toward him with a worried look on his face.

"Are they still yelling…and fighting?", Elefun asked anxiously. "It sounded pretty loud in there for a moment…"

Ramsey sighed and nodded. "Fighting like cat's and dog's still, old friend. That'll be tough to get them to stop, but they're making some headway. I'm going to try the separation method with them tomorrow."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"I'm not sure. Those two definitely have some serious problems…but I'm going to give it a shot anyhow."

Elefun smiled. "Thank you for doing this Markham. You don't know what it means. It bothers me like nothing else to see a father and son behave that way toward one another! My father and I had our disagreement's when I was a child but….GOOD LORD! "

Ramsey laughed. "You have to take into consideration that they aren't the average father-son pair Elefun. You know more about them than I do after all."

"I know…but still."

Ramsey nodded again and took a cigarette out of his coat pocket and stuck it between his lips, and took out a lighter to light it with. "Anyway old chum, got to be getting home to the misses. Keep me posted if they have anymore screaming matches…and don't let Tenma make any…unnecessary 'improvement's' to Astro."

With that last, Markham Ramsey left, and Dr. Elefun was left alone in his hallway outside the living room. He walked toward his living room door and sighed. Another night of making sure father and son don't crush each other emotionally. Whoopee. Boy did he wish Markham wasn't the type of therapist that liked 'talk' to his patient's rather than give them happy pills. He hated to be thinking negative thoughts like that but trying to reprimand a robot with a billion horse-power rocket leg's, and super strength for calling his father a 'Mega-Twat' was not an easy, or fun thing to do at all. Neither was dealing with Tenma's dark moods, and black stares.

(A/N: So what do you guy's think? Please review! I worked hard on this one. ^^; And yes. Astro cusses. In the movie he WAS a teenager..and teenager's cuss. I don't think that he and his father would have instantly had a great relationship just because Tenma decided to stop being a douche and not deactivate him and finally accept him. They woulda still had some thing's to discuss, hence…THERAPY SESSION WITH MARKHAM RAMSEY! Lol.)


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N: Hello everyone. For chapter three I'm going to spend some time elaborating on some things that were discussed in the first two chapters of this story. Also, you get to see what happens in Astro and Tenma's split therapy sessions! Cora finally find's out what's going on with Zane and the kid's and, Emily Niele, now temporary President of Metro City in Robert Logan's stead, finally starts getting things done and has a 'meeting of the minds' with Dr. Tenma. Enjoy!)

**Chapter Three: What's In The Box?**

**Astro, Tenma, Elefun**

"How about that time?"

"Nwo."

"Nothing at all?"

"I SWAID NWO!"

Dr. Elefun frowned at the site in front of him. It seemed every time they got one step closer..they took another one back. Astro was sitting at the kitchen table with his mouth open and his tongue stuck out over his porcelain teeth glaring at his equally frustrated, dark-blue eyed father. Stuck to Astro's tongue were several electrodes hooked to a large machine on the table Dr. Tenma was standing in front of. For the past two months now…Tenma had been trying to figure out a way to make it possible for Astro to taste food. He had gone about the process of re-designing the entire inside of Astro's mouth to make it more sensitive to food and touch…and he'd even found a way to get him to actually salivate somehow. Astro had cooperated when it had all began, but gradually, it got to the point where every time Tenma would even _suggest_ making any changes to him, one could see the boy visibly recoil..sometimes even shudder. It was odd though. You could definitely see that he hated it..all the poking and prodding..and tweaking…but he never refused when his father came at him with another idea about how changing something about him would 'make things between us better!'.

Elefun looked at his watch. It was almost two o' clock. He stood up from his seat in the corner and cleared his throat loudly to get the pairs attention. They both turned slowly and glared at him..Tenma with his dark, angry eye's and Astro with his sad, lonely ones. He nervously scratched his few remaining gray hairs.

"It's almost time for your erm…sessions with Dr. Ramsey…I think we should start getting ready. We'll need to move the one of the arm chairs into the study on the other side of the living room."

Astro ripped the electrodes off of his tongue immediately upon hearing this request. "I got it Dr. Elefun!" He slid out of the kitchen and into the room beyond. He had been doing that a lot. Sliding around the kitchen…or any of the rooms in the house without carpet ever since his father had replaced his original red boots with actual legs and feet. He still had the ability to fly of course, now he just had the luxury of choosing what particular pair of sneaker's he wanted to wear. That, and the fun of slipping around in his socks in the kitchen and knocking thing's over. Elefun chuckled inwardly. It seemed that even though Astro didn't enjoy being poked and prodded at by his father, he was getting some benefit out the changes being made to him. A little daily joy. Knowing that little bit of information would probably make Tenma so happy he'd pop. Astro was young yet though…and it would take time for him to realize that about his father. Tenma needed simple reassurances that he was on the right track. It would take Tenma a long time to realize that about Astro too. Astro didn't need to be spoiled or smothered, he just needed a good hour of his father's time..doing something they both enjoyed. A simple trip to the park to feed the ducks or just walk and talk. The trouble was, he tended to always respond in an extreme manner. Earlier that morning, when Astro had attempted to get him to go in to look at some plants in the green house he'd found interesting, Tenma had rushed in a bit too enthusiastically. He had even gone as far as correcting his son when he'd falsely identified the plant he was trying to show him, AND read him a passage about the plants uses, and where it could be found in the wilderness. After that, Astro spent most of the day in his room..away from his father, staring out the window, or watching television. Until Tenma decided it was time to finish working on the sensors in Astro's tongue anyway.

Dr. Elefun looked over at his colleague who was carefully folding up the wires to his machine in a small case. He looked away when Tenma sensed him looking…and looked back with those eyes of his.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"What is it?"

"Nothing Umataro."

"You're always looking at me funny Elefun…._why?_"

"I wasn't looking at you funny!", Elefun spluttered out making a slightly frightened jerky movement.

Dr. Tenma placed the case down on the kitchen table, his eye's flashing dangerously. Dr. Elefun felt his face burn out of embarrassment….especially when Tenma's usually straight mouth curled into a smile. A very deranged smile. He began walking toward him.

"Do I have something on my face _fat man?_"

"Tenma…you're my friend, and I have a great deal of respect for you, but-don't you think it would be a good idea to try and keep private jokes between the two of us? Astro's in the living room and he'll hear you if you say-!"

Dr. Elefun retreated backward toward the door trying to get all this out but was cut off by Tenma midsentence.

"Hear me say _what _exactly my dear _PAKADERMIS J. ELEFUN?_ That you're a big-!"

"NOOOOOO!" Elefun charged, his face as red as a tomato, and clamped his hands over the man's damned mouth and shoved his taller, much thinner frame against the wall next to the kitchen door.

"YOU HAVE THE ABSOLUTE _WORST _SENSE OF HUMOR TENMA! MY SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS _NOT_ A TOPIC THAT YOU OUGHT TO BE PICKING AT ME ABOUT!"

At that moment the kitchen door opened up, and a very confused looking Astro walked in. Dr. Elefun had his father pinned up against the wall with his hands clamped hard over his mouth glaring at him. Astro stared.

"Um…I moved the love seat…and Dr. Ramsey's here..what're you guy's doing?"

Elefun looked over at Astro and released his thin, evil, rogue of a father who still had that deranged grin plastered all over his face. Damn him. Damn him and his sick sense of humor! Not only did he get messed with at the Ministry about his…'personal tastes'…by the other scientists, but he had Tenma making his life hell outside of it as well too. And after all he'd been doing for him and his son! Hiding them and letting them eat, and sleep in his home, and even getting supplies from the Ministry in secret from old co-workers for Astro's modification's! Astro didn't actually eat….or sleep…but still! To go to all this trouble and poked at about something as personal as _that_! The _beast !_

"Your father and I were having a private discussion Astro…that's all. Nothing to be concerned about."

"Oh..okay then."

Astro walked back out of the kitchen leaving the two scientist's alone.

Dr. Elefun eyed Tenma angrily.

"You know…it's a shame you don't share some of that dark humor of yours with your son, Tenma. I think it would benefit him to know just how horribly _twisted_ you really are."

Tenma chuckled. It was an eerie sound to hear. It was one he didn't make often. He thumped Elefun's large, bulbous, nose with his forefinger.

"Don't deny it, you slovenly pansy! You know my _'twisted sense of humor' _makes that abnormally large butt-crack of yours sweat." Tenma turned and walked smoothly out of the kitchen with his nose in the air, evil grin firmly in place, leaving a very incensed Dr. Elefun in his wake.

"_Bastard.."_

(A/N: Yes. I made Dr. Elefun gay. I tried my hardest to make up a wife for him..but I couldn't. Sorry folks. On top of that, would a wife really put up with a guy like Tenma lurking around the house? I wouldn't. lol And before there's ANY confusion, Dr. Tenma is NOT gay in this story, and NOR WILL HE BE. I just always imagined that if from the '03 series and Elefun from the movie worked together as colleagues, that Tenma would make Elefun a nervous ninny because of how dark and moody he is..and spend most of his time punking and embarrassing him even though they really are very good friends. Some people might complain about the sense of humor thing too. :/ Tenma might be insane, and have issues, but that doesn't mean he is incapable of poking fun at someone for a good laugh or making an indecent joke. In short, I decided to go for a 'love hate' relationship for Tenma and Elefun for some laughs. Can't be all serious all the time right?)

**Cora**

Cora stared at her mother's backside hopefully. "So…can I go?"

"Eat your breakfast."

"Moom! You said you'd give me an answer in the morning! It's morning-so answer!"

*Demimia turned around and looked at her daughter angrily. She was not a happy woman this morning, and Cora, not even so much as offering up a 'good morning' before begging her for an answer to what they had discussed the night before was pissing her off even more. Or at least her face betray anyway.

"_EAT."_

"I'm going to-but you said that-!"

"SHUT UP AND EAT YOUR PANCAKES!"

Cora stared at her mother in complete shock with her mouth hanging open. Her mom wasn't the typical house-wife by any means, and when she was angry she was pretty prone to using profane expletives to express herself….but never had she said _anything_ like that to her daughter with such extreme venom in her voice. Her nostrils were flared out and her cheeks had red spot's on them exactly like Cora's when she was truly furious about something.

Cora looked down at her pancake's and picked up her fork and slowly began to eat after recovering from her mother's harsh words. Her ear's felt hot, and her stomach did a flip every time she swallowed, but after about fifteen minute's she had gotten the plate of pancakes, egg's and sausage down her throat. She wasn't sure why her mother was so angry this morning…especially since it was one of her off days. What had changed from last night?

When she was done she made another attempt at getting her mother to answer her.

"Mom…? Can we please talk?"

"About you wanting to traipse around Metro City looking for a bunch of sniveling, dirty, garbage eating Orphan's?"

Cora nearly picked up the empty plate in front of her and bashed her mother over the head with it, but she settled instead for rising up out of her seat and throwing a used, dirty, napkin at her instead, and hitting her in the face with it.

"THEY AREN'T DIRTY, AND _THEY DON'T EAT GARBAGE!"_

Demimia grabbed the napkin off of her face and threw it to the floor. She didn't speak. She just waited.

"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO BITCHY? CALLING MY KID'S GARBAGE EATER'S?-DO YOU KNOW I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT HITTING YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH THAT PLATE JUST NOW? YOU WERE REALLY COOL ABOUT ME GOING TO LOOK FOR THEM LAST NIGHT-WHAT CHANGED ALL OF A SUDDEN?"

Cora was standing up on her tiptoes, her blue eye's wide, and angry , and watery with coming tears. She was shaking with pure unadultered, motherly fury…..just like her own mother had figured she would be after having made the cruel comment she'd made about her friend's. The way Cora had talked about all those kid's…their habit's, their quirk's…their dream's, and even some of their fear's had gotten Demimia worried that Cora's attachment to them was more than just a strong, friendly bond, which was why she had decided to forego giving her a definite answer until this morning. When Demimia had insulted them, Cora hadn't referred to them as 'my friend's' she'd referred to them as 'my kid's'….which had been the biggest give away of all.

Demimia softened her facial expression to a calmer one, and spoke in an even, level tone.

"You're not going Cora. You're staying home."

"_WHY?" _The tears fell after hearing that. Cora wanted to see her friends so badly.

"Because if you go out there and look for them and find out they aren't any better off than they were when they lived in the Outland's you won't be able to function."

Cora kicked the wobbly kitchen table as hard as she could, causing her empty breakfast plate to fall of the table and break on the floor with a loud crash. She then proceeded to stalk around the open kitchen and living room kicking things and knocking them over out of anger. Demimia watched a while longer before speaking again.

"I'm not trying to be cruel Cora. I just don't want to see you go through what I did…with you."

Cora stopped her rampage and turned to look at her mother with her reddening, teary eyes and disheveled black and pink hair. "Whaddya mean 'what you went through with me? You don't understand even a _little bit_ about how I feel about them! And then for what you just said about them-I should just so-so-!"

"Punch me?"

"YEAH!"

Demimia glanced down at Cora's small, shaking fists and rolled her eyes behind Cora's back when she had turned around again to kick over the little rubbish bin by the couch, sending its contents all over the floor and under the coffee table. She had seen bigger hand's on eight year olds..and Cora might be pretty upset…but she wasn't going to actually hit her own mother. And if she did…well then it would be time to bring out her good old friend 'Mr. Whoop-A-Child Till' Their Ass Turn's Blue' which was hanging on nail in her bedroom. She hadn't used it on Cora since she was seven…but who knows? She was raging pretty bad at the moment. Maybe what she'd said had been a little _too_ insulting. She continued to talk.

"That's exactly how I felt all those time's the women I work with whispered behind my back about how I was an unfit parent when you were running around in the Outland's salvaging robot parts."

Demimia screwed up her face into an impersonation of Darcy Field's, a co-worker in one of the other repair tents.

"Did you _see how thin_ Robert's daughter is? She looks like she barely eats anything at all! Robert's gets more work than any of us-so you know she can afford to feed and dress that child better than _that!_ Someone should call child services!"

She did another.

"Ha! And I thought Demimia was a teeny-tiny piece! You seen that bony little trollop daughter o' her's? Bet that'd be like tryin' to stick a tree-trunk in pin-hole! HAR! HAR!"

Cora shut her eyes tightly, shivered, and screwed up her mouth in disgust. She knew some of the men at the construction sites looked at her when she walked by, but she hadn't thought that they'd taken _that much_ notice when she'd walked by, running errands for her mother, or getting lunch. People actually thought her mom was like that? Uncaring and aloof? The men at the construction sites actually thought they wouldn't get busted up and cussed out if they ever made a pass at her? Cora opened her eyes again and just looked down at her feet. Understanding had just settled in.

"And I bet you'd just love to hear what I had to put up with from your Aunt Angela the day I told you you could stay at Hamegg's."

_Sniffle._ "No."

"Alright. Now do you understand why I don't want you to go Cora?", Demimia asked walking toward her, and wrapping her arms around her.

"Because I'll freak out if I find out their doing bad because I'm…I'm.." Cora looked up at her mom and returned the hug with a confused expression on her face.

"Why _would_ I freak out?"

"You'll freak out if their doing badly at the orphanage because you have a strong motherly desire to protect them. It's motherly love hun. I feel the same for you when you leave here to go and have all those little adventures you have. I _want_ to follow you around beat the spit out of everything that could be doing you harm…but I can't….and you wouldn't want me to."

"So I love them like a mom?"

"Yes."

"I thought…I thought I was just…really attached."

"You are. Which is why I'm not going to let you go. You're fourteen Cora. You're not ready for the 'Oh my god where's my baby at?' freak out's just yet. It really isn't something you should be worried about right now….but I _will_ see what I can do about locating them so you can see them. If they aren't doing well you'll be more of a help to them here with me than you could be backpacking around the city by yourself looking like one of them."

Demimia guided Cora over to the couch and sat down still holding her. Cora's eyes lit up.

"You'll really help look?"

"Of course. Why would I not? I've got a friend who's a social worker I'm going to go and see tomorrow about it. I called her after you went to bed last night. She can give us a list of all the Orphanage's and on my off days I can stop in on some of them."

Cora hopped up out of the loose hug and enveloped her mother in a tighter, more joy expressant, bear hug. Or she tried to anyway. She was small, so a bear hug from her didn't really feel too much like one.

"I love you mom!-And I'm SO sorry I called you a bitch! And you'll tell me like super-super right away when you find out where they are right?"

"Yes, Cora. I'll even come pick you up and take you to see them all myself. And you'd _better_ be.",Demimia laughed. "Now get off me and clean up this damn mess you made in my living room! And get the glass up from that plate you broke!"

(A/N: When I saw the 2009 movie and saw how Cora interacted with the kid's it really made me see her as sort of their surrogate mother so to speak. She was always comforting Widget and Sludge, and remembered to bring Grace something dangerous back to play with. That, and she was always telling Zane how crappy the world was like parent's often do their older kids when they tell them about something they think is great that they happen to know a bit more about. And as far as the way I chose to show her relationship with her own mom….ugh…sorry. I hated the way the movie did it. Everyone in Metro City save for a few people looked exactly the same. Generic and boring. Especially Cora's parent's. So I made up a cool, robo-fixin, world-weary mom for Cora! Hope you guys like Demimia…cuz she play's a big role at the end of this. .)

**Astro, Tenma, Elefun, Dr. Ramsey**

"Alright, Astro…I want to start by asking you about what you told me yesterday about the incident when you were nine year's old."

Dr. Ramsey tapped the microphone on the table to make sure it was functioning. Tenma was in the next room, and he had to be able to hear what was said. The same would go for Astro when the time was up and it was his turn to sit out.

Astro looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his three month old toes. "Um..should I describe what happened or..?"

"However you feel it'll help you m'boy."

Ramsey took a cigarette out of the package of Camel's in his shirt front pocket along with a silver lighter and lit it. Astro scrunched up his nose. His dad had made it possible for him to be able to smell five months ago by totally revamping his nose and some of the sensors in the skin on his face. He'd just found a new scent he didn't like.

"Well, Dad was working at home because they were doing renovations for something at the Ministry. A lot of the other scientists were at our house too because I guess they couldn't work at their own houses…."

_**-Flashback-**_

"_But Dad! You said you'd watch it with meeee!"_

_Nine year old Tobio Tenma, Toby for short, bounced up and down on his father's California King-sized bed holding up a copy of the movie __"The Heiress".__ It was Saturday morning, and it was supposed to be the day Tobio got to pick a movie he liked out of his father's extensive classical film collection, and they sat down and watched it together in the living room with a bowl of popcorn. He had seen this particular movie before and always liked to hear his dad explain it to him. It was Tenma's favorite out of all the old movies he had..and seeing as how just getting a 'Good Morning' out of his father was more and more difficult lately….Tobio was willing to do anything to get his father's attention. Even watch an old 40's movie his young mind couldn't grasp the concept of._

"_I can't son…not this morning."_

_Umataro Tenma sat at a large mahogany desk on the other side of the room rifling through some papers. He had yet to change out of his black, flannel sleeping pants and house robe. He looked at the clock. It was 9:15 A.M. He had an hour before everyone came. He ran his finger over his chin. Stubble. ' A quick shave and a shower…and then maybe some coffee with a little Bailey's Irish Cream mixed in..' As he thought this he felt a tug on his arm and looked to see his son Tobio looking at him holding up the DVD. His big, brown eyes held a pleading look, and they were starting to water a bit. If Tenma hadn't currently been absorbed with thoughts about his next big project he would have at least hugged his son and promised to watch the movie later that evening. No such luck though._

"_I can't Toby. Just watch it with Nora.", he said nonchalantly rising from his seat at the desk and striding over to his walk in closet to find something to put on. Tobio tottled after him. He was a little on the short side for nine. People were often surprised to find out he was three year's older than what they usually put him at._

"_I don't wanna watch it with Nora! I wanna watch it with youuuu!", Tobio whined, only to be shot down again._

"_I have people from work coming over today to discuss an important project Tobio-I just can't! Nora can watch it with you, and I'll explain if you ask me later-and what did I say about following me in here?"_

_Tobio looked at the large black laquer chest up against the wall in the closet next to all of his father's shoes and belt's and ties. He had come in here once before when he had been a bit younger and tried to see what was in it, but his dad had caught him right before he'd been about to open it. His father had since then banned him from the closet period and kept it locked when he wasn't at home…which was pretty rarely these days anyhow. Curiosity wasn't why he was here though, so he didn't heed his father._

"_You said when you didn't have work that we would start watching movies together again! You said no the last __**eight times**__ dad!" His eye's watered up even more at his father's next response._

"_Because I have to work to keep you in silk pajama's boy!", Tenma said irritably and then turned to look back at his tie rack._

_Tobio began to cry in spite of having told himself earlier that he wouldn't if his dad said no._

"_You said you would!-You said you would!"_

_Tenma turned around again._

"_Stop it Toby! You're too big to be having temper tantrums! You'll be __**ten**__ next month! STOP IT!"_

_Tobio cried louder and hugged the DVD to himself, big wet tears dripping down the front of it._

"_My b-b-birthday's __**NOT**__ next month dad! It's __**next week**__! You forgot my birthdayyyyyyyy!"_

_Tenma was irritated now. If he didn't hurry he'd have to welcome everyone in in his pajamas. And here his son was wasting his time fussing about some movie he wanted to watch. He pulled off one of his ties off the rack they hung on and then went back to deal with Tobio. He picked up his nine year old son who squalled and kicked and cried all the way out into the hallway where he left him sitting on the floor with the DVD between his short, little legs. He frowned as he looked down at him sitting there wetting up the front of his pajama's with his tear's. He felt bad…..really, truly, bad for not remembering Tobio's birthday. He had honestly thought it was next month…he would have to deal with it later though. Renovations at the Ministry would take another two weeks and all he had to do today was go over some simple schematics with his co-worker's. He would have time to make it up to him._

"_NORA!", he bellowed when Tobio cried louder and tried to wedge himself in between his father's legs and the door, while beating his fist's against his waist._

"_I don't care about pajamas- and silk makes me sweat-and you don't care about me-and you never-never-never-never-never-never –NEVER do ANYTHING with me anymorree!"_

_Nora came up the stairs a second later, her robotic eyes blinking in question, and looking between Tobio and Professor Tenma._

"_Yes sir?"_

"_I need you to __**please**__ take Tobio to his room. He'll have his breakfast up here this morning. And if you could also fix my morning coffee?"_

"_Yes sir! No problem!", Nora said picking up the crying boy in her robotic arms and speeding off down the hall with him. She took him three doors down to his room, and sat him on his bed. Nora tilted her large, pink, metal head and just watched the little boy cry for a moment before finally saying anything. It was interesting to the house bot to watch this display of emotion, but it eventually went back to doing its duty by trying to calm Tobio down._

"_Master Toby….please do stop crying now. Your father will be upset if you continue."_

"_He doesn't care about meeeeee!"_

"_Master Tenma cares a great deal about you Master Toby."_

"_No he doesn't, he doesn't even __**talk**__ to mee-heeeee!"_

_Nora stuck her arm out and patted the crying boy on the head to try to soothe him._

"_I believe that he does."_

_Tobio stopped bawling and snarled all the snot that had begun to drip out of his nose right back in and glared at the robot._

"_You believe what he made you to believe. All you do is what he tells you!"_

_Nora continued to pet Tobio until her robotic hand was knocked away by the boy._

"_Go away Nora! I don't want you!"_

_Nora stood still, blinking her eye's at the boy, making her clicking and whirring noises. He was not crying now…so she had done her duty she felt..in a sense…but something in her system was telling her that there was more she should do for some odd reason. Master Toby's heart beat was quite fast at that moment, or at least that's what her readings of him were telling her. He was shaking, but from his body temperature she could not understand how he could be cold. She took a quick scan of his head. His *amygdala seemed to be in a whir of activity which suggested that he must be in some sort of distress. But what kind? Nora tilted her robotic head again, still observing him._

"_GO AWAY NOOORRRRAAAA!"_

"_I can't Master Toby."_

"_YES YOU CAN! YOU HAFTA DO WHAT I SAY TOO!"_

"_But you seem to be very distressed….is there not any way in which I can assist you?"_

"_NOOOOOOOOOOO!", Tobio screamed kicking his bare feet into Nora's pink metal chasse._

_Nora finally retreated out of Tobio's room, her electronic brain confused and all a buzz with his strange actions. Normally, Tobio treated Nora with as much kindness and respect as he did his father, and never once had he gotten upset and kicked at her before. She was his friend when his father wasn't around and she always did her best to help him. He felt a pang of guilt when Nora exited but he was just too upset to think of apologizing to the house-bot who would probably only tell him it was alright and that she 'understood'. Nora didn't understand though. Nobody did. Tobio flipped himself over onto to his bed face first, and began to cry again…this time, not out of anger….just pure hurt and sadness._

(A/N: Okay, I did a little research and from what I found, the Amygdala is supposed to be the part of the brain that control's emotions. Just so everyone knows. ^.^ Also, sorry if Toby seems a little immature for nine year's old…but…most of the time when kids have limited interaction with their parent's they kinda are that way emotionally anyway from what I've seen. I know my version of Astro looks like a sharp contrast, but I figure if he wasn't talking to his dad or hanging out with him any then he would have to pick up some of the things he knows at 13 from somewhere else..like maybe school, or another grown up. Maybe Dr. Elefun? Lol)

Dr. Ramsey was leaning back in the easy chair with his eye's closed nodding.

"I see. What did you do after you sent Nora away?"

"I cried for a long time…and then she brought food. I don't remember eating any of it."

"After that?"

"Dad's Ministry douche bag's showed up."

"Language Astro. Language."

"Sorry."

"And then?"

" I started thinking.."

"Thinking what?"

"Thinking that if I just jumped off the top of the stairs and…died….that.."

"That what?"

"That he wouldn't even notice I fell. He'd just…keep talking about schematic's and propulsion systems. He'd just forget me like he always did when his job came up."

Astro was bent very low over his own lap with his arm's wrapped around himself, his forehead touching his knees.

"When you jumped, what happened?"

Astro sniffed. He was beginning to cry.

"I broke my leg…and dad caught me right before I got to the bottom. He saw me when I j-jumped."

"Astro?"

"What?", he responded snapping his head up from its position on his knees. Ramsey had his eyes open now. Astro was full on crying.

"I'm going to ask you two more questions…and then you may leave."

Astro stared in response, tears pouring silently out of his brown eyes.

"You weren't trying to end your life were you? You just wanted him to catch you at the end of those stairs…to see if he really cared. You may have been small but I don't think a tumble down the steps would've quite been enough. Am I correct?"

Nod.

"Last question."

Ramsey leaned forward and looked directly into Astro's eyes.

"What is it…_**exactly**_…that you want from your father?"

It took a moment for him to gather his thoughts, but he knew. He put his forehead back down on his knees.

"I just want to do normal stuff. Talk about father son stuff. Go fun places…it doesn't have to be everyday….just sometimes. I know he's got stuff to do, but if he could just talk to me for a little while…._**normally**_ like he used to when I was little….that would be enough. Now…when we talk…it's so…stiff…and when I try to do something fun he makes it all serious and awkward. It's like-like trying to be friends with a frozen T.V. Dinner."

Ramsey nodded. "Alright Astro. You're done m'boy. Go clean your face and go in the other room. …you can come in."

Astro got up and just as he was about to make his way to the bathroom, his father walked into the living room. Astro looked down at his shoes when he got near him, but was startled when his father's feet stepped in front of his, and stopped. He looked up to see his father looking down at him with a pained and confused expression on his face, as though he was trying to figure out how to say something.

Astro stared, unsure of what to do.

Dr. Tenma looked over toward Dr. Ramsey who held a concerned expression on his pale, wrinkled, grizzled old face…at least until Tenma asked him the seemingly simple question his supposedly brilliant mind was wrestling with at that moment.

"Can I hug him?"

Dr. Ramsey smiled.

"Ask him."

Tenma looked back down at his son who was looking at him, too. He held out his arms in a sort of questioning way.

Astro took a moment to think, and then shook his head. He didn't think right now was the time. He had tears all over his face and he wanted to go wash off the 'sissy'. He then walked past his father and went into the bathroom to wipe his face off.

Dr. Tenma, looking a bit disheartened went to go sit down before Dr. Ramsey.

Ramsey leaned back in the easy chair again.

"He's a teenage boy….and teenage boys often have difficulty with the whole 'tear shedding' thing you know. He'll hug you afterward though, I can assure you. Especially if my hunch about him is right."

"What's your hunch?", Tenma asked waving his hand disdainfully through Ramsey's cigarette smoke.

"Did he have good grades in school? But bad behavior?"

Tenma looked at him and nodded. "He was always top in academics, but he was rather…"

"Used bad language? Refused to take part in group activities with other children and whatnot?.."

"Yes."

"It was his way of trying to show you he was worthy of notice."

"How do you mean?"

"Children growing up don't really understand the intricacies of adult life until they become an adult themselves..so they assume that what they see us do on a regular basis each and everyday, must be all there is to being grown up. Astro saw you work, mostly alone at night at your home when you were away from your job. He also saw you reprimand some of your underling's at the Ministry with coarse language. He gathered, from all this, that being an adult, means cussing like a sailor when your angry, and always being on your own, and never taking any assistance from others."

"So he doesn't want to hug me because he thinks he's not…supposed to?...That I'll think he's weak if he comes to me for support, and reject him?"

"In a nutshell…yes, Dr. Tenma. But now that you've offered your support, I think he'll take you up on it fairly soon if you're patient."

**Emily Niele **

Emily looked around at the dismal surroundings. Dirty floors, low quality food..children in launder's dresses cleaning, and slaving…this was complete and utter bullshit. Never. Never in her whole life had she been as angry as she was at that moment. Heads were about to roll, and the reporter's, and social worker's, and office assistant's all standing around her could see it plainly in her sharp, thin face.

All the children had been told to line up against the wall by the care takers who had rushed there once they'd learned that there was going to be a surprise inspection of the Orphanage. There hadn't been time to try and make the kid's or anything else look presentable, and the care taker's, a stout man by the name of Otto Loudres, his wife Laura Loudres, and Mr. Arthur Hammond all stood sweating like pigs trying to maintain their smiles, and hoping against hope that Emily Niele wasn't about to do what they had heard she had done to numerous construction agencies and other Orphanages around the city. They hoped..that maybe…just maybe she was in a merciful mood.

No such luck.

"Prison."

Pencils' and pens of reporters began to scratch away at a mile a minute.

"I WANT THESE PEOPLE THROWN IN PRISON _NOW! _THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

Laura Loudres clung to her husband shaking, her mouth hanging open in shock. She looked to him and shook to get him to say something. Anything that would keep the policeman coming toward them from throwing her into the back of the police car she saw outside.

"M-Miss Niele, if I may be allowed to speak in my, and my wife's defense-!"

Arthur Hammond cut him off. "I don't have nothin' to do with any of this! All I do is what they tell me!-I ain't done nothin'!"

Emily walked up and shoved her way through the policemen that were attempting to try and handcuff a screaming and kicking Laura Loudres who had tried to run when one of the policemen had gotten too close. She got directly in Otto Loudres's face, her pointy nose poking into his chin.

"You can speak for yourself and your wife in court!", she snarled jabbing him with her pointer finger in the chest. "I'm no Robert Logan, and I'm _no_ President Stone. I don't forgive easily, and I don't listen to excuses or take bribes from fat louses like you! You're going to jail and you're going to pay for what you've made these kids suffer through!"

Otto Loudres was handcuffed by a policeman but before he was taken away, Emily took her heeled foot and slammed it down onto his slippered one making him howl with pain. If there was one thing that set her off worse than any other, it was seeing children be mistreated…and this…this Orphanage that was supposed to be a place for them to come to be cared for…it was an abomination. Children sharing beds, and scrubbing toilets, and stairs, and they even had the older ones out working detail at construction sites and doing landscaping for the Orphanage! Some of the kids even slept on the floor for lack of beds, or just wanting their own space.

When she heard the car doors slam shut, and Mrs. Loudres's screams were silenced, Emily let out the breath she had been holding in while yelling in Otto's face, and peered down at the children in front of her, all lined up against the wall. It had been a week since she'd been made temporary President, and everywhere she went it seemed like people were taking advantage of the chaos to make a quick buck or exploit a group of hapless Outland refugee's into doing hard work for little pay. This whole situation was proving to be much more difficult that what she'd expected. She had known it was bad from the start, and she'd tried unsuccessfully to get Rob to see it was only going to get worse if he didn't learn to multi-task and act quickly. He was at home resting now though. That was where he needed to be until he was physically and mentally fit enough to take care of things on his own. She just hoped his wife, Amy, wasn't making too much noise in the day room flouncing around on the futon with her boy-toy. Her heart began to thud painfully in her chest at the thought of that…Robert at home lying in bed, and his two angelic little children asleep in their bed's while their mother went out partying, and throwing her goods at other politicians who laughed about it behind Rob's back. He was really, truly a good hearted man with good ideas and intentions, but he was pretty short sighted when it came to the inadequacies of others..even the people close to him. He was the kind of man that liked to make everyone happy. Very Selfless. Too selfless. She would think about all that at a later time though. She had an obligation to the little ones standing in front of her. And she also had to make sure the detective she hired to find Dr. Tenma wasn't sloshed at the stake-out this morning. Good detective he may be, Mustachio was nearly always half into his cups when Emily went to go and see him for updates. Rob was going to owe her so much for all this shit.

'_Details…all these details. No point whining though. Best get to work.',_ she thought, and proceeded to ask the children to tell her their first and last names if they knew them, and then for all of them to describe to her exactly what had been going on from the time they'd gotten there. She had to know how long this had all been going on so she could make absolutely sure Otto and his hag rotted in the Metro City Prison for a good long while, and the kid's, all of them tired from kitchen work, and the boys weary from yard work, and covered in mud from sloshing around uncovered construction sites, had no problem whatsoever discussing the injustices they'd suffered at the hands of their caretakers.

**Ramsey, Tenma, Astro, Elefun**

Ramsey tapped the microphone again for the second time to make sure it was functioning and looked up at Dr. Tenma. He looked very uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable indeed.

"Are you alright?", Ramsey said raising a grey-white eyebrow.

Tenma nodded quickly. "Yes."

"You look rather pale Dr. Tenma…"

"Just ask your questions!"

Ramsey frowned. What had caused this man's demeanor to change so quickly? He was sitting on that couch looking as if he expected to be sentenced to death in the next few minutes. Perhaps he was just apprehensive about what he was going to be asked? Ramsey sat back in the chair and nodded slightly. Whatever it was, he would most likely give it away over the course the session. If he didn't, there would be other sessions to get it out of him.

"Tell me something about your teen years Dr. Tenma."

Tenma visibly stiffened up even more if it were possible.

"What about them?" His voice had a hostile edge to it.

"I don't know. Anything. Did have any good friends? Girlfriends? Did you play sports?.."

It was a full three minutes before he responded.

"I had a few friends. I ran track in high school..and in college for a semester."

"No girlfriends? You're not unattractive man…you didn't date at all?"

"I did."

"Were you and your wife high school sweet hearts or…?"

"I'd rather not talk about my wife."

There it was. Tenma didn't look like he could get any stiffer or paler. That had to be it. He hadn't wanted to be asked about his wife. Ramsey thought about pressing it and just continuing to ask. Tenma made a pretty interesting psychological specimen, and his relationship with his wife may have something to do with why his relationship with his son was in the toilet. He pressed a bit more just to gauge reaction.

"What was her name?"

"I said I _don't_ want to talk about my wife."

Ramsey gave a look of offense to try to lure Tenma. "And why on earth _not?_"

"Because she has nothing to do with this situation!"

"The hostile way in which you are responding to my questions makes me think she might have a _good deal_ to do with this situation Dr. Tenma!"

"Your _job_ is to help my son and I—_not_ hammer us with uncomfortable questions!"

"Astro didn't have a problem answering _any_ of the questions I asked him- and not all of them were easy questions for a child to answer by my definition! And yet here you are, all in a tizzy because I'm asking you a question about your past! I can't do anything to help either of you if you don't cooperate with me-and right now you are being _very_ uncooperative Tenma!"

"I'm not answering any questions about my wife!"

"I take it you won't answer your son when _he _asks you about her either will you?"

That seemed to snap something. In a good way….or in a bad way…Ramsey wasn't able to tell. At least until Tenma spoke again after a full five minutes of staring a hole into Ramsey's forehead with his dark eyes.

"Yumi."

"Yumi?"

"Amaya, Maeyumi—Hoshie, Tenma."

"Yumi for short I presume?"

Nod.

"You spoke her name with some pride in your voice…your relationship was good?"

"Very."

"I see.."

Tenma looked a bit less stiff now, and his body language was much less challenging. Time to ask a bigger question.

"Your relationship was good you say, but…where is she now?"

A sharp intake of breath could be heard from Dr. Elefun out in the hallway, and the creaking of the chair Astro was sitting on in the other room. He no doubt had his ear mashed up right against the microphone. It was as he'd expected. Astro didn't know anything about his mother..or rather Tobio's mother if you wanted to get technical…and in turn he knew even less about his father. It was starting to make a bit more sense now.

Tenma didn't respond verbally. He went back to a defensive position, and simply looked away, mouthing something incoherent. Ramsey sighed. He hadn't answered, but at least Astro was on the other side of the wall listening. Hopefully, the boy would see fit to seek an answer to the question on his own if his interest was piqued as much as Ramsey hoped that it was. The best way it seemed to get these two to stop spitting fire at each other would be to get them talking to another…learning about one another.

Ramsey let the silence go on for a minute longer thinking of another question to ask.

"What do you and Astro spend most of your time doing here?"

"We watch television. And he goes in his room around midnight every night."

"Anything else?"

"Sometimes I work on him."

"What do you mean by 'work on'?"

"I'm sure you've noticed he looks different from when you first saw him."

Tenma didn't explain anymore beyond that. Ramsey was starting to feel perturbed. Tenma wasn't cooperating at all. Not even a little now. Astro was right…trying to get to know this man _was _like trying to be friends with a frozen T.V dinner. He decided to go for a whole new method.

"Is there anything _you_ would especially like to discuss Dr. Tenma?"

A pause. And then a slow, gradual smile. A small one to be sure…but still a smile.

"As a matter of fact Dr. Ramsey…there is."

"Yes?"

"I'd like to talk about _you."_

Ramsey sat up slightly in his chair, his eyes narrowing slightly…the skin around his eyes wrinkling.

"What's _your _wife's name Ramsey?"

Ramsey played along.

"Dianna Rosemary Ramsey."

"Hmm..not too much pride in that…I take it the two of you argue a good deal?"

Bigger smile from Tenma.

"Not at all. She's just as ugly as sin, and not much in the mood for play now she's past menopause."

"Mm. Pity that."

"Indeed. Do you have any hobbies other than robotics Dr. Tenma?"

"Do you have any hobbies other than playing Sigmund Freud?"

"When Astro was in here talking to me about his incident with trying to get you to watch the movie with him-he mentioned a _black box_ in your closet!"

The crack at his profession had Ramsey standing up now with his finger pointing directly at Tenma's face. He was flushed, and he had his teeth bared in anger. He had lost his patience and his professionalism. The chair in the next room could be heard sliding back, and Dr. Elefun sounded like he was hyperventilating out in the hallway. Ramsey plowed on, his pride having been stabbed at.

"What's in the box my man? Pictures of your deceased wife? Love letters? Locks of her _long, golden hair? _She's dead isn't she? Did you dry up her soul like your drying up your sons you despicable maggot?"

Tenma's smile did not falter in the slightest, and he didn't move from his position on the couch. He leaned all the way back and relaxed so as to have a better view of the so called 'best psychologist in the city' standing over him shaking with rage. It was a shame he'd let a petty insult drive him to such a level…he had really given him good advice on how to better get along with Astro thus far. All's well that ends well though. Elefun was going to cry himself to sleep later on about wasted money but he'd be alright. He had his nightly dreams of romps with scantily clad man-candy to cheer him up.

"Actually Ramsey…my wife had black hair. Short, curly, black hair…and being of a practical nature, she didn't too much care for long, winded, love letters. She liked to get right to the point of things. And as for what's in the box I kept in my closet? Well…if I told you… I'd have to choose something of its contents to use on you..and I don't think you'd enjoy that."

"YOU-!"

The living room door burst open and Elefun ran in and put his rotund form in between the two of them. He was trembling and sniffling a good deal.

"Ramsey just leaveeeeeeeeee! Ohhhh Tenma how could youuuu!"

Astro came in as well…but oddly enough he didn't look upset or even in the least bothered by what was going on in front of him. He looked more curious than anything else.

"Mom had black hair?...", was the question he asked, and both Tenma and Elefun looked over at him, and then back at Ramsey who was now grinning. He had succeeded in getting Tenma to talk about his wife, and say a little about himself by prodding him in the right way. Tenma was the kind of individual that liked to push people's buttons, or atleast that was what he had gleaned from what had just happened. It was defense mechanism of his obviously. Piss off the person asking you uncomfortable questions so you won't have to do anything but sit back watch the other individual rave and rant idiotically. Good strategy, but not quite good enough for Ramsey.

Ramsey looked at the clock and clapped his hands together. "Well ! I believe our little exchange of wit and your refusal's to cooperate with me have taken up the entire thirty minute session! I'll pack up my equipment and get going! I'll be back in…oh…a couple of days to see how you two have progressed. I expect a _big_ improvement next I see the two of you! And Astro, make sure you get down to the real nitty-gritty with your questions. Your father seems to like to be as basic with his answers as he can be when the questions aren't asked in the most brutal, direct manner, possible."

Tenma went stiff for a moment..knowing that he'd been duped into doing something he really hadn't wanted to do. Ramsey had just made it so that the rest of his evening was going to be a very uncomfortable one indeed. He got up off the couch and shoved passed Elefun who still hadn't realized what had just happened and went back into the kitchen to find something to pretend to be busy with so he could think of what to say to Astro later on. He still didn't feel that his relationship with Hoshie bore any similarities to his relationship with Astro, and the comment that Ramsey had made about him 'drying up his wife's soul like he was drying up his son's ' was ripping him up right now….though he had pretended not to be bothered by it earlier. Then there was everything Astro had described during his time on the couch. There was so much to talk to the boy about! And Tenma hated talking with a passion. Especially emotional talks. Maybe he could write a letter? No. There was so much to say that it would take longer than what he knew had patience for. How do you have an uncomfortable conversation…without actually having it? Tenma stood over the pile of dishes in the sink and thought as he listened to Elefun wailing out in the living room. His mind went back to something he had heard Astro say to Ramsey an hour ago.

'_I liked when he would explain the plots of all those old movie's to me..'_

The reflection of Tenma in the dirty sink water changed from an irritable and stressed man who needed a shave, to thoughtful one…who needed a shave. His usually unexpressive mouth spread into a smile. A real, true, genuine smile for the first time in a good while. He was going to need to borrow Elefun's zip-car tonight. _AND_ borrow some money for some snacks.

**Cora, Zane, Widget, Slugde, Grace**

"Heh…You gonna let go anytime soon?"

"Shut up Zane…and you smell like ass!"

"Quit hugging me then!"

Laughs from the other kids behind her made Cora tear up again and whip around and wrap her arms around Widget, Sludge, and Grace all at the same time.

"Do you guys have any idea how much I missed all of you?"

Grace rolled her eyes and slid out from underneath Cora's arms.

"Duh! You've been crying and hugging us for like an hour now! Jeeze!"

It turned out that Cora and her mother hadn't had to wait on her mother's Social Worker friend to get them a list after all. The night she was supposed to come over to bring the list she and her mother had seen the broadcast on the news about an Orphanage that had just been closed down and it's owners sent to prison for the exploitation and neglect of the children there. When Cora had seen Grace standing in the background behind a blonde woman being interviewed by the reporter on the scene she had completely lost it just like Demimia had said she would and demanded that she be driven to the new place they were now being kept so she could smack up anyone there that even _looked_ like they were thinking about mistreating her friends.

The new place they were now all living in was called St. Elmo Mc'' Guire's Home for Youths, and it was much, much more legitimate, clean, and orderly than where they'd been before. There was bed space enough for everyone, and no one was made to clean, other than keeping their beds neat, and their own clothes and bodies washed which wasn't too much to ask considering everything they'd had to do before. The building was bigger and closer to the government building and the Police Station too. The care-takers were nicer, and much more involved as well, and there were several more staff around to make sure things went smoothly and schooling was mandatory in all Orphanages now…or at least Emily Niele had made it so when she'd found out half the kids she'd talked to couldn't spell their own names properly, and upon hearing this Cora had insisted that Zane and all the other kids take full advantage to which they all responded, "You ain't our mom!" which had made Cora's mom laugh so hard she'd spit out the pineapple juice she'd been drinking.

Cora felt her stomach rumble, and she stood up put her hands to her stomach. Her appetite had just come back to her all in a rush. She turned to look at her mother who had heard the loud rumble and was standing over her and the other kids with a big grin on her face. They were all in the visitation room at St. Elmo's standing in a little huddle in the middle of the room. Zane and the other kids weren't going to admit it, but they had missed Cora as much as she'd missed them and no one wanted to sit down for fear of one of their number suddenly disappearing from their midst.

"Mom?"

"Hungry hun?"

"Starving."

Zane took a moment to look Cora up and down.

"I thought something looked different about you! You're all skinny now!"

Cora turned back around and jabbed a finger in his face.

"Well I was worried about _you_ getting something to eat dip shit! What? I'm ugly now or something?"

Zane shook his head and blushed a little. "No..you've never been ugly..I just always remember you being…not so bony. You didn't have to starve on our account."

Cora laughed and jumped on him for another hug. "I'll be back to normal eventually. I feel like I could eat a horse, a hippo, AND whale right now….so gimme like a month and I promise I won't look like a twig anymore okay?"

Widget and Sludge came up behind her and hugged her legs and Grace stood grinning looking for where she could get in on the love fest. It really felt like old times. For Grace anyway as she stood watching her friends laugh and joke and hug one another….but it felt like there was something missing still. The little ginger haired girl poked out her bottom lip, folded her arms, and looked up at the ceiling with her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed…thinking.

"Guy's?"

Everyone looked at her, including Cora's mother.

"I think we're forgettin' somebody."

Cora let Zane go and wriggled out of the twin's leg embrace and walked over to tweak Grace's hat on her head a bit, and then kissed the little girl on the forehead making her wipe it off and push her away slightly with a mock grossed out look.

Cora laughed again and gave Grace a slight push back. "Who're we forgetting Gracie?"

And that's when the answer not only popped into Cora's own head, but all the other kid's at once, and for a moment, they all stood there feeling really guilty. Cora especially.

Zane said it first.

"Dude…we forgot Astro."

Cora's stomach rumbled loudly and her cheeks turned pink at the mention of Astro's name. She was still having those stupid ass dreams! She felt bad that she hadn't thought that much about him other than that though…but she'd been so concerned with finding Zane and everyone else that she just hadn't put a whole lot of thought into wondering where it was he might be.

Cora turned to her mom again who had a very comical expression her face. She had her hands over her mouth to try to keep from laughing out loud, her eyes were watery and squinty and her cheeks were puffed out…all to hold in the laughter. Cora had told her mother about the ridiculous dreams she'd been having and she'd told her that Astro was another boy that used to live with them at Hamegg's, but she _hadn't _told her that Astro was a robot….and that he was the same robot that had saved Metro City from total destruction. She just didn't know how she would take it if she told her she'd had a dream about being pushed on a swing in a big, poofy, princess dress by a robot in a Victorian tuxedo. And she especially didn't want to tell her about the one where Astro had taken her horseback riding and heroically saved her from riding over a cliff on her frightened horse and she'd rewarded him by…._no….just no._

"Mom? Do you think we have enough room in the living room for them all to spend the night and watch movies or something?"

Demimia swallowed down her laughter, and nodded. " I don't think we can just take them with us though, Cora. And you know I have to get up early tomorrow for work."

Cora frowned. She had only just found them…plus she wanted to talk to Zane about looking around for Astro. Who knows? Maybe Astro was flying around somewhere looking for them. Or maybe he was stuck somewhere with his dingy looking father all alone. Cora had seen him lurking in the background after Astro had defeated the peacekeeper. How could someone as nice as Astro be related to someone as douchey looking as that? It was odd. After all the cheering and hullabaloo was over, Astro had run right to him like he was happy to see him, and the guy didn't smile or anything. Just grabbed his hand, and walked off.

Cora looked at Zane. "Do you think your care-taker's would mind if I slept on a couch here or something? I can go home really early?"

Zane shrugged. "I dunno…they're all really nice…much better than what we're used to, but there kinda strict too. But you can gimme your phone number though! They let us use the phone here in the day time."

Cora nodded and ran over to her mother to dig in her purse for a pen and a piece of paper.

"You better call me in like the next thirty minutes Zane! I'm not kidding!"

All the kids laughed, and Zane repeated the statement they had all made in unison earlier.

"Dude! Seriously! You're not our frickin' mom!"

"Well I'm the closest thing you got to it chicken boy! Hush!" Cora shoved the piece of paper with her home number on it into Zane's hand and then turned to the smaller children.

"I wish you guys could come over….but since I don't know the rules on that yet I'll be here _every day_ to check up on you okay? Grace…be good, and don't cuss too much. Widget, don't let anyone bully you! And Sludge, if anyone picks on you, tell Zane, and he'll tell me and I'll fuck em' up good! Zane…seriously dude…start showering..and learn to read!"

"Whatever."

Cora gave them all one last, tight, group hug, and then left with her mother. They were shown out by one of the cleaning bot's that helped out the janitors. Cleaning up after sixty kids with just sixteen janitors was tough. You _needed_ a cleaning bot to pick up some of that slack. Cora practically skipped to her mother's car. She had seen her friends, and she would probably see Astro sometime soon too. She was feeling very optimistic. He had to be somewhere right? Time to go make Demimia spend thirty bucks at Mc Donald's! Whoopee!

**Tenma, Emily, and Mustachio**

Emily looked around the inside of the foyer with raised eyebrows. Mustachio, a short, stout man with a thick, gray, walrus mustache stood next to her wobbling slightly, but with an equally impressed look on his face. The inside of this house….was beautiful.

Emily looked down at the white marble floor at the fine sheen of dust that now covered it, and then the expensive pottery over in the corner, and large old oil paintings on the wood panel walls. She had only seen houses like this in movies, and on MTV Cribs. There were even wall sconces with real candles in them. She stepped out of the foyer and into the living room, Detective Mustachio following behind her.

"Damn…this guy Tenma had 'spensive taste!"

"I can see that.", Emily said slipping her heals off and rubbing her feet over the soft carpet. It felt like stepping on feathers.

The living room was gigantic, but minimally furnished with a large black grand piano sitting by the fire place which was big enough for a person so lie in. It was dark inside the house, but there was just enough day light left outside to be able to see the opulence of everything within. She looked up at the ceiling where a large crystal chandelier was making prisms on the wall above the mantle. Good lord…Tenma didn't just have expensive taste….he had _outrageously expensive taste_. Was that an actually bear skin rug in front of the fire place? She left her shoes where they were and went up the stairs. They were actually real, wooden, stairs. Not the steel and glass ones you typically saw in more modern homes. The banister was smooth, and polished, but covered in a sheen of dust just like everything else in the house. Tenma hadn't been here in a while, but it was to be hoped that eventually he'd have a reason to return….and when he did, Mustachio would give Emily the heads up and she'd head in to do what needed to be done. With a police escort of course. She hardly knew anything at all about Dr. Tenma accept that he was Minister of Science during Stone's administration. She couldn't be sure whether or not he would be hostile when she attempted to talk to him, and Mustachio, though tough and dependable, was too lit most of the time to be any use if there was a tussle.

She walked along the little walkway past three rooms, all of which she peeked into before getting to the last one. The first, looked like a child's room, probably Astro's. It was full of all sorts of toys, and video game magazines and consoles and a stereo system more sophisticated than anything she'd ever seen. A kid this spoiled had saved the entire city? There was even a vintage pin-ball machine in there! And more pairs of expensive shoes, and clothes than any human being…or robot… could possibly ever need.

In the second room, there was what looked like several large shelves of books, and music records…..really old music records. There were large wall length windows on the right side of the room that showed out into the back yard where the grass and bushes and trees had grown wild for not having been tended to for several months. This room too had a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the floors were made of a dark oak polished as impeccably as everything else undoubtedly was. The third room had been rather uneventful. It was full of file cabinets and nothing else…and all the file cabinets had been locked so she left out of that room as soon as she'd realized she wasn't going to be able to get into any of them. The last room, which she knew had to be Dr. Tenma's bedroom proved to be the most interesting out of them all…and not just because of all the expensive furniture either.

She heard a glass clink behind her and turned around to see Mustachio standing behind her holding a bottle of Brandy and two glasses she was sure he'd taken out of the little 'entertaining' cabinet downstairs on the far wall in the living room. He was grinning and moving his eyebrows suggestively.

"How about we partake of the fruits of the science man's labor Ms. Niele?"

She rolled her sharp blue eyes and pushed open the door to Tenma's room and stepped inside.

"Put it back Mustachio. If he comes back here we don't want him to know anyone's been through looking for him."

"Awww, c'mon! Just _one_ drink? I got us in here, and wasn't easy ya know! It took me forever to figure out where he'd hide his spare house key! Wanna know where I found it? It was up in one of the rain gutter's on the second floor! I nearly broke mah neck! And besides! Don't you _want_ a little drink? You're always so stressed lookin'."

Emily ignored the Detective and looked around. The sunset was over now and it was full on dark outside now. There were windows, behind what looked like a big bed…but she couldn't see much else. She decided to take a little risk, and wandered over to the big wooden desk and flipped the little lamp on it on to get some light. She looked back to the bed, and heard Mustachio make a noise behind her.

"Mmm. You could do a lot in a bed that big! Ha ha!"

"Shut up Mustachio!"

"I'm just saying! I'll bet whoever he's married to is one happy broad!"

"Stop with the crude jokes, and just investigate!"

Emily walked over by the bed, running her hand over the red, silk sheet's and think blanket. She was here on business but she couldn't help being impressed by all this. Tenma must've been making tons of money as Minister of Science….and if he wasn't…then did he hail from some wealthy family somewhere? She walked over to two double doors that were directly across from the bed. Most likely the closet. As she opened it and stepped in she heard the head board on the bed knock against the wall loudly. She looked over her shoulder to find Mustachio lying face up on the bed with his hands behind his head.

"Ahhh! Now this is a bed!"

"Get off it Mustachio! Didn't you listen to what I said earlier?"

Emily walked further into the closet after saying this and turned on the light within, and looked around. All the clothes and shoes were gone. So he had been here to get his clothing…he'd probably gotten all of his son's as well. She looked down at the floor at the back of the closet where rested a large, shiny, black lacquer box, the only thing left other than one or two funky looking ties on a rack and a few old hats. She bent down and peered closer at it, and then..after a moment…opened it up. Her eyes widened, and she slowly but surely reached her hand in.

"Oh…my…god."

Mustachio grumbled outside on the bed. "What'd ya find Ms. Niele?"

"I have absolutely _no_ idea…" Emily pulled her hand out of the box and stared at the riding crop in it. She looked back down inside the box at all the other…_questionable_ artifacts inside it. She dug around for a good bit looking around until she noticed that Mustachio had gotten pretty quiet back behind her. She stood up and closed the box, and then walked out of the closet only to bump into someone who was obviously _not _the man she'd come in with. She heard snoring. Did that stupid bastard really fall asleep and not notice this guy walk in?

She jumped back into the closet, it being the only place she could move back due to the tall, dark figure standing in front of her. He walked forward too, and when she saw his face…she relaxed a bit…but only slightly from recognition of who it was. The look on his face kept her mostly on edge however. He was looking over her shoulder at the opened black box behind her, his mouth set in a grim line and his dark eyes flashing angrily.

She stood there watching him for a moment, not knowing what to say, and then finally spoke.

"Hello Dr. Tenma…my name is-"

"Emily Niele? The one that left a hundred and fifty messages on my answering machine?" He stepped around her and closed the box. She didn't know how to respond to that last so she kept going trying to be as polite as possible. He looked a lot different from the picture she'd seen of him in downstairs on the wall holding his son, both of them dressed in matching outfits and smiling. The man standing in front of her now had a full growth of jet, black beard and his clothes…which looked like they had once been very nice, looked drawn up and wrinkled as though he had tried to wash clothes that were supposed to be dry-cleaned in an actual washing machine. His shoes, which she automatically knew by looking at them were very expensive Italian leather shoes. They were now scuffed badly and it looked like the bottoms of the shoes were starting to peel from the uppers.

"Uh…yes. I'm Secretary of State to President Logan…we've been looking for you and your son for a while now to talk to the two of you."

Tenma bent over and picked up the riding crop she'd left on the floor, and then turned around to look at her. He blinked slowly.

"I'm not going to make anything for the government. If that's what you want I suggest you walk out now, and take that idiot snoring on my bed in there with you." He didn't say it loudly or even in a rude manner. He was letting his body language get the message across without having to be excessively brutal with his speech, and Emily got the message loud and clear. She didn't leave the closet though, and she knew how to look pretty scary when she wanted to too.

"That's not what we're interested in Dr. Tenma. What we've actually been trying to get in contact with you about is-"

Emily jumped backward and bumped the closet door, her mouth hanging open in shock. Tenma had just smacked her leg with the riding crop and none too softly either! And he was grinning now. She turned and ran out of the closet catching another blow to her backside as she ran to the side of the bed to wake up Mustachio.

She practically screeched in the slumbering man's ear. "WAKE UP YOU FAT IDIOT HE'S HEREEEE! WAKE UP AND PROTECT ME! HE'S INSANE!"

Tenma walked slowly out of the closet still holding the crop laughing. Laughing out loud with his eyes closed and bearded chin pointing to the ceiling. He looked the spitting image of a mad scientist at that moment. Messed up clothes and all.

Mustachio jerked awake and hopped up off of the bed and immediately put his fists up looking around confusedly. "Where is he? I'll get em'! I'll get em'!" Emily turned him in the right direction and pointed.

Tenma stopped laughing abruptly, and tossed the riding crop onto the other side of the bed and looked at the wobbly detective and the woman behind him, his grin still in place.

"Sorry about that Ms. Neile, but I have a rule about that box you see."

"And what's _that_ you maniac?"

"Anyone who open's it gets hit with whatever they take out."

Emily narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would someone who has children _keep_ a box like that in their house! You've got-you've got _knives _in there!"

"Why would someone who's supposed to be a very professional government official stoop to sneaking around in another man's house?"

"We were looking for some evidence that you'd been here recently so we could try to talk to you next you came back! We've been calling both you _and_ Dr. Elefun for months!"

"Have you ever thought that maybe Dr. Elefun and I just aren't very social people? You _do_ know what they say about Robotics Engineer's don't you Ms. Neile?" Tenma's grin widened.

"No! And I'd rather _not_ know Dr. Tenma! I just want to talk to you about your son, Astro!"

"Ah. Well if that's the case then whatever your question is, the answer is no.", Tenma said picking up a small bag off the bed and putting it under his arm, and giving them a mock smile. He then turned on his heel and proceeded to walk out of the room.

Emily pushed the wobbly, and confused Mustachio ahead in front of her following Tenma out into the hallway. Mustachio looked back at Emily. "Do ya want me to hit em' or what?" Emily shook her head no after thinking about it a moment as she watched his tall, dark figure walk leisurely down the stairs taking in the scenery. She hadn't expected to be…hit with a riding crop….but she had to at least try and get him to agree to meet on another day to discuss a deal or something. His frazzled clothing, and deranged grin made him look crazy…but maybe he could be reasoned with somehow. Worst came to worst…she could just shove Mustachio on him and run away.

She trotted past Mustachio and down the stairs after him. "Wait! Can you just listen to what I have to say for a few minutes?"

"If it's about my son..no."

"We just want him to make some appearances with President Logan to-!"

" You mean you want him to parade around in front of cameras for the people's entertainment?"

"NO-! We-!"

"He is _not_ a show piece and nor will I allow you to make him into one."

Tenma had finally stopped walking. He was standing by one of the big velvet couches closest to the entrance to the foyer. His grin had disappeared and he looked angry now. Emily wasn't cowed however, and stepped closer.

"Your son is a _hero_ Dr. Tenma! There are a lot of people out in the city who would really love to see him! We don't want to make him a show piece, we just want the public to see him, and be inspired by him. Do you have any idea how bad things are right now in Metro City?"

"Not really. And to be quite frank I could care less Ms. Neile. What would me allowing my son to be present at one of your 'town hall meetings' accomplish?"

Emily narrowed her already sharp, blue eyes at him. Soulless bastard.

"Like I said before. Things are bad, and morale is low Dr. Tenma. We think that allowing everyone to see the person who made it possible for us to even be where we are now, would give them some strength to keep going. It would help Astro too. People out there know about him….and they know about you, and why you made him Dr. Tenma."

"Do they? And what exactly do they think I made him for? A charity to them? Someone for them to call on when they need someone to fight monster's and out of control robots?" Tenma was now standing directly in front of her, his teeth bared in anger.

"No, Dr. Tenma. Most of the people native to Metro City know you made him in the image of your son that passed away. All the other scientists at the Ministry didn't have any issue's whatsoever with telling President Logan and I…_and_ the press where Astro came from."

"What do those sniveling refugee's and construction worker's need to see him for then? You couldn't get your reporter's to right an inspiring enough story in the paper?"

Emily thought a moment then smiled, and shook her head. "No. We couldn't. You put a lot of love into making him though. That was pretty clear to everyone who saw him fight that day. We just want to see if Astro can get the public to put a little love into rebuilding this place."

Tenma's anger seemed to ebb slightly at hearing that last, and Emily took her chance.

"If you don't have time now…maybe we can discuss it more on a later date?"

Tenma looked at her, and then at the portly, intoxicated man behind her still standing on the stairs looking on. Then he looked around the inside of his living room…and at his frazzled clothing. He thought about Astro's holey socks, and busted tennis shoes, and Elefun's incessant nagging about how Astro needed to be around friends and whatnot. Then the hostility and ice usually surrounding his heart melted slightly and he let his eye's travel back down to those of Emily Neile's.

"I'll talk to you. But I'm going to go ahead and give you a head's up right now Ms. Neile. Most people find me a difficult man to get along with when it comes to negotiations. You'd best be prepared to hand in all your chips!"

Emily nodded quickly and followed him into the foyer when he began walking again, not paying attention to the seriousness with which he made the comment. "Where can we find you? What time?"

"Since you found my spare house key you can just meet me back here in a week….and…_Emily_ is your name correct?"

"Yes?"

"Two things. One. Don't bring the drunk. Two….you would be much more attractive if you would take your hair out of that ridiculous bun. How old are you? Thirty-two? It makes you look at least ten years older than you are."

And with that, Tenma walked out the front door of his home leaving a very rattled Emily standing in the foyer clutching at her bun angrily.

"_Bastard!"_

(A/N: Okay. Hope you guy's enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it. I did a lot of embellishing on Tenma as you can see. It's just the way I see him I suppose. I can't go into explaining because it would take too long. Anyhow, in the next chapter Cora and Astro _finally_ get around to seeing one another, and you get to hear a little bit more of what Astro thinks about everything that's going. As for the thing with the box…um..I hope I don't get banned for that or anything. And if anybody wants me to explain _why, _just pm me, or wait for my next Astro fanfic. Read and Review please!)


	4. Chapter 4: I'm A Real Boy!

**Chapter Four: I'm A Real Boy!**

**Tenma, Elefun, and Astro**

Tenma frowned at the lumpy, slightly burned cake in front of him, and then looked over at his chubby fellow scientist, Dr. Elefun who had been giving him the stink eye ever since he'd gotten back from his little rendezvous.

"Is it supposed to look like this?"

"I don't know _what_ it's supposed to look like Tenma! Do I look like a damn pastry chef to you?"

Tenma smirked, but before he could answer the question, Dr. Elefun cut him off, by huffing like a fed up housewife, and turning his back on him. He was still upset about what had taken place during his and Astro's therapy sessions earlier that day. Tenma rolled his eyes and sat down the little container of blue frosting in his hand on the kitchen counter. A quick apology was all that was needed here…and even without it..Elefun probably wouldn't hold a grudge for too long anyway. He was too mild mannered an individual for that.

"What is it Elefun? Your internet playmate, Sexy-Bate13 didn't instant message you today? Or are you still wetting yourself over the little mock argument I had with your old friend Ramsey?"

Elefun turned around again angrily, and jabbed his finger in Tenma's face, poking him right in the nose.

"Why in _god's name_ do you have to be so crude and brash in the things you say to people? How could you say all those thing's to him? He charged me only half of what he usually charges to see the two of you! And even if it was just a mock argument on _his_ part, I don't appreciate you disrespecting a friend of mine like that Umataro! He's a busy man you know! And he's really sticking his neck out for me making these house calls and not mentioning to anyone that you and Astro are staying here with me!"

Tenma folded his arms. "I _told_ him I didn't want to talk about my wife."

"You _never_ talk about her Tenma! As much as you supposedly loved her, it certainly seems you go to a lot of lengths to avoid thinking of the poor woman! Especially considering Astro…er Toby…was barely a year old when she died! I should think you would _want_ to get something like that off your chest!"

Tenma gave Elefun a warning look, and then glanced over at the kitchen door. He took the hint and lowered his voice. Astro was sitting in the living room watching television.

"You had absolutely no reason to do what you did!", Elefun whispered loudly.

" If I apologize to the wrinkled old piss-ant, will you stop looking at me like you want to slap me with that big nose of yours, and help me finish this cake? And besides…I told you that I would reimburse you for your hospitality as soon as I was able to do so. Relax, Pakadermis."

Tenma turned back to the counter, and picked up the frosting, and a butter knife to frost the little burnt, lopsided cake in front of him with.

Elefun snorted and gave a curt nod. "Hmph. For someone so intelligent and cultured, you're pretty rotten at making apologies."

"Just get the chips and dip ready fat man."

"Stuff it, you rogue!"

In the living room, Astro was sitting on the couch watching a re-run of the Simpson's, kicking his leg's back and forth impatiently, bumping the little wooden coffee table in front of him every now and then. His father and Dr. Elefun had been in the kitchen just about the entire rest of the day after Dr. Ramsey left, and his dad had even taken a drive somewhere a bit ago. Since the therapy session, Astro had been extremely eager to try and talk to his father about the things that had been said, but he'd avoided him the whole rest of the day afterward, and didn't even say anything to him until after he'd come back from wherever he'd driven to. Astro looked over at the clock on the end table on the right side of the couch he was sitting on. It was past midnight now. He sighed and stopped kicking his feet and picked up the remote and began flipping through the channels until he saw something that looked interesting enough to watch. Eventually he stopped on the Disney channel. Pinocchio was on, and it was nearing the end of the movie just about. Astro settled back and watched the little puppet dance around its father happily with the little black and white kitten bouncing around for joy as well. Jepetto was also doing a demented little jig of his own…happy at having his little creation return to him after so long.

'_Was dad happy to see me when I came back? Sure didn't seem like it.._'

The fairy god mother appeared on the television screen before Pinocchio and the kitten. Jepetto…being an old man had retreated to his own room after settling his wooden child in bed. Pinocchio looked up at the woman, his hand's clasped together, and his big blue eyes shining, and full of hope. The fairy god mother smiled serenely, and asked, "What is your wish little Pinocchio?"

Pinocchio then got up off of his wooden knee's, with his hand's still clasped together in a supplicating manner, and said," I wanna be a real boy!" The fairy god mother gave a speech about why it wasn't proper to tell lies. The moral of the whole movie, and then with a flick of wand, granted the little puppet's wish. He began to glow and rise up off of the ground and change, and just as he'd finished his transformation, the bright light woke up old Jepetto and he hobbled in to see what was going on. Then the really annoying part. Annoying to Astro anyway. The fairy god mother disappears, and Pinocchio goes running up to Jepetto with his arm's out screaming, "Pa pa! Pa pa! I'm a _real_ boy!" , and then Jepetto scoops him up in his arms and makes exclamation's of joy over having a son that didn't give him splinter's when he held onto him.

Astro picked up the remote and turned off the television. " I hate that stupid ass movie…" He sniffed the air a little, and then looked back at the kitchen door. He smelled cake…a burnt cake…but a cake nonetheless. His dad wasn't a very good cook …and he was pretty sure Dr. Elefun didn't know anything about baking stuff either. What were they doing in there? He smelled popcorn….and nacho cheese too.

Astro stood up off the couch and walked around the coffee table, and past the entertainment system, and stood about three or four feet away from the kitchen door. He turned up his hearing a bit and leaned forward to better hear what was going on inside.

"_Ow! This stuff is hot!"_

"_It's boiling cheese Elefun! What do you expect? Stop messing around with that and get the candles on the cake lit! I'll take care of the Nacho's!"_

"_I don't have a lighter!"_

"_Oh good lord!"_

Astro heard the ruffle of shirt front pocket, and then the sound of a match being struck.

"_There. Now pick it up, and put it on the platter."_

"_What if it tips? It is rather lopsided..and you're not that good at frosting cake's Tenma-"_

"_Just do it! We've been in here half a day! I don't care how it looks anymore!"_

"_Fine! Fine!"_

Astro heard a pair of heavy feet shuffle over. They were Dr. Elefun's. His dad had a bit of a slower, lighter step.

"_Alright..it's all done. Now you go out and occupy him with something while I bring it all out."_

"_Why me? It would be better if you went out to see him!"_

"_I know that. But if I let you set it up your liable to spill everything. Now, go Elefun."_

An exasperated sigh, and then the shuffling of heavy feet coming towards the kitchen door. Astro turned tail and bolted back over to the couch, his bottom hitting the white cushions, just as Dr. Elefun walked in looking nervous, and with several frosting and cheese stains all over the front of his shirt. Astro pretended not to notice him come in, and just leaned back, staring up at the glass ceiling where a good number of star's could be seen winking in the night sky. Dr. Elefun's house was much more on the modern side than his and his father's home. Everything was made of glass, and tempered steel. Even the couch he was sitting on had a metal frame. It reminded Astro of movie's he'd watched about people who'd gone to mental hospitals for treatment. Everything was so sterile, and shiny looking. This was mostly due to Dr. Elefun's bad sense of decorum, and his finicky little cleaning robot, Angie. It was a dry, minimally furnished environment with small rooms…not the big, open, well furnished, and opulent home he was used to, but it was comfortable..and a lot better than where he and his father hadbeen staying previously. Those had been a trying first couple of weeks for the both of them. It was easier for Astro because he'd gotten used to living that way because of his time he'd spent living with Cora and the others in the Outlands. His dad hadn't taken to it well at all though, and refused even the stuff they were offered by friendly Outland refugees who didn't recognize Astro's face from the battle. That, and during the entire couple of week's they were out there together, all they'd done was scream at one another. The word 'hate' had come out of each of their mouths at least a couple of times too.

Dr. Elefun cleared his throat. "Astro?"

Astro looked over at him blinking the image of all the stars in the sky out of his eye's.

"Yeah, Dr. Elefun?"

"Um…I was wondering if I could get your assistance with something."

Astro nodded, and stood up off the couch again, and smiled.

"Whatcha need?"

"Um…let's go into my office."

Elefun turned around and began walking towards the door that led into the hallway, Astro close behind him. The hallway, like the rest of the house was dry and sterile looking too, with the exception of some photos of family and friends on the wall. Astro peered at one picture in particular as he and Dr. Elefun walked by. It was a photo of Dr. Elefun in his younger days, presenting an award to a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She was pretty. Really pretty, with curly, black hair that came down to just underneath her chin, and a little button nose, and chocolate brown eye's that shone beautifully. She wore a long, green, lab coat with the symbol of the Ministry of Science on it. Green, Astro knew, was the color of someone just beginning in the Ministry of Science's Biology department.

"Dr. Elefun?"

"Yes Astro?"

They had just walked into his office, and Elefun was looking around for something to get him to do. Astro would've laughed if he wasn't so preoccupied with thoughts of the picture he'd seen.

' _He said she had black, curly hair…'_

" Do…do I look anything like my mom?"

Dr. Elefun stiffened up, and after a second or two, turned around and looked at him, trying his hardest not to look as uncomfortable as he felt. Part of him was dying to say, _' You're the spitting image!'_ but the other side of him knew he ought to give Tenma the opportunity to tell him that. It would mean more hearing it from his own father. Elefun swallowed down the urge to go into an emotional relay of how he had his mother's eyes, and nose, and even some of her mannerisms. It was Tenma's job to do….it would mean more coming from him. A lot more. He avoided Astro's question altogether.

"Would you mind helping me shift my office around?", he asked loudly, his voice quavering. "I'm getting on in years you know, and it's hard to move all these heavy things on my own and-!"

Astro's face drew itself up into a look of pure irritation. He walked over to Dr. Elefun's desk and lifted it with one arm, straight into the air, with a strong urge to chuck it at the chubby old man.

"Where do you want it?", he snapped, glaring daggers. He was getting tired of all this bull. First, he had to deal with his father refusing to answer his questions outright by avoiding him the entire day, and now, he had the one person he thought he could depend on for an answer dodging him too. How were thing's supposed to get better if no one ever told him anything? What was all this stuff about distracting him, and setting up food somewhere?

Dr. Elefun did his best to keep up the pretense, and told Astro to set his desk closer to the window so he could get better light. Tenma was probably in the living room trying to make everything look like a damn Hollywood dinner party! He was seriously getting too old for all this.

Astro walked over to the book shelves and lifted them both. One shelf in each hand.

"These?"

"Over by the-."

Elefun's office door opened and both he and Astro looked to see his father standing there, looking his usual dark, and moody self. His eyes glided over to Dr. Elefun, and he raised a questioning eyebrow, after seeing his son over in the corner holding up the two book shelves.

"Having him move furniture is your _best_ idea of a distraction Elefun? Why couldn't you take him into the green house?"

Dr. Elefun folded his short arms across his chest, and wrinkled his large nose.

"Don't criticize me! You could've just as easily done the distracting you know!"

Astro dropped the book cases back in their original places next to one another, and then turned back around to look at his father and Dr. Elefun angrily.

"Distract me for what? Why've you guy's been in the kitchen cooking all day? If you're trying to test my taste buds with sweet stuff, we can do all that later! I wanna know about-!"

"And I'm going to tell you if you'll stop fussing and give me the opportunity to do so."

His father then turned heal and took a step out into the hall. "Come with me, son."

Astro followed, but not quietly. He had too much pent up frustration in him to be silent.

"What're we doing? You know I can't taste anything!-Where did you go earlier? What's going on dad? I'm getting really sick of this shit! Not only do you never talk to me about anything _normal_, but you won't answer me when I ask you stuff eitherrrr! SAY SOMETHING!"

When they stopped at the door to the living room, Astro was still fussing, only this time he had started to stamp his feet out of irritation at his father still not responding to anything he was saying. He had completely forgotten that he had super strength, and gun's in his butt until they fired off accidentally while he was shaking the bejesus out of his father's leg, nearly snapping it in half.

"ASTRO STOP!"

Tenma was leaning against the door holding his leg, his face screwed up in pain. He looked his son up and down irritably. This was ridiculous…he was thirteen and still having temper tantrums!

Astro looked behind him at all the bullet holes in wall and the fallen photograph's, and busted pottery, and then down the hall at Dr. Elefun who was standing up against the wall with a hand on his chest breathing hard like he'd just run a mile. He gave Dr. Elefun an apologetic look, and then glanced back at his father, his expression going back to one of irritation.

"I'm sorry! But you know I'm right! And if you didn't want me to accidentally shoot stuff, why'd you put gun's in my ass dad?"

Tenma stood up a little straighter and shook the pain out of his leg, and smirked.

"I put gun's in your ass just in case you ever went to jail and someone looking at you thought you'd make a good 'pretend girlfriend'."

"That's gross."

Tenma opened the door to the living room. "I know. Now get in there, boy."

Astro walked in ahead of his father, and over to the coffee table and couch where he just stood and stared at the sight before him.

On the end table, next to the couch was at least twenty different DVD movies, the one on the very top catching his eye first. It was "_The Heiress." _ He looked down at the coffee table where a small, lopsided little blue cake with ten, lit candles in it sat. There was also a bowl of nacho's, smothered in cheese, and three different types of popcorn. Regular, cheese popcorn, and his favorite when he was younger….kettle corn. He looked back at the cake again. Written neatly on its surface were the word's, '_Happy Tenth Birthday Toby.' _He bit his bottom lip, and looked over his shoulder at his dad, his eyes starting to tear up.

Tenma stood awkwardly looking off to the other side of the room, waiting for him to say something. He hoped like hell he didn't get the '_Oh now you wanna remember my birthday!'_ response. He was really, honestly, and truly trying to make an attempt here. He couldn't even count how many time's he'd burned himself trying to get all of this ready while in the kitchen, nor could he count the amount of time's he'd nearly knocked the cake over, nervously fidgeting with things trying to make sure it looked nice. He had never been a people person, and he'd never been very good at giving apologies….so doing all of this had been real stretch for him. Especially considering he couldn't cook to save his life. He'd done better than Elefun though. The first cake they'd attempted to make, Elefun hadn't read the instructions thoroughly, and they'd ended up having to use a soldering iron to get the rock hard, burned cake out of the pan, and into the trash can, all because the pan wasn't greased before the mix was put in. After that, they'd switched duties and after a couple of tries he finally pulled out a decent looking one…lopsided and slightly burned though it was.

"Sing happy birthday!"

Tenma's eyes snapped back over to his son who was now facing him with his arms crossed, grinning. Tenma let his usually tight, stiff shoulder's fall and let out a breath of relief. He was happy with it then.

"I won't sing happy birthday…but I will stay up the rest of the night and…explain these to you..", he said motioning over to the stack of DVD's.

"I want a birthday song though. Sing."

"No."

Astro flopped on the couch and propped up his feet on one of the throw pillow's still grinning at his father. If he was going to throw him 'make up birthday party', he wanted the whole experience. Not just a piece.

"_Sing_ or I won't let you sit down!"

Tenma folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "There's more than one chair in here. Quit with the cute act, Tobio. Move your feet."

"And I can get to all those chairs _a lot_ faster than you can pop! Sing!"

"I'm not going to sing! I've been in the kitchen all day doing this! NO!"

"Pleeeassseee?"

"Absolutely _not!"_

Astro poked his bottom lip out, made it quiver for effect, and then began to fake cry like a baby.

Tenma, fed up with the shenanigan's, walked over and pushed his son's feet out of the way and sat down.

"Astro-stop pretending to cry, and ask me something!"

Astro slowed down his fake crying a bit, but he didn't stop. This was just too exciting. A movie night. After five whole years. A movie night! He didn't even care that he wouldn't be able to taste the kettle corn or the nacho cheese. He was just absolutely ecstatic that he was finally getting his movie night….that..and the tenth birthday party he didn't have because his father had gone on a business trip that week...totally forgetting about it. He asked his first question through his fake crying to irritate his father more.

_Fake sniffle. _"H-h-how do you feel about me really dad? Sometimes it seems l-like you like m-m-mee-but other time's I think you can't stand looking at mee-heeee!"

"Oh god…", Tenma said putting his face in his hands. "_Please_ stop with the fake crying!"

Astro burst out laughing. "Sorry dad…but this is…this is so…_awesome_!" He looked around at all the little snacks on the table and at the candles on the cake still twinkling merrily.

Tenma took his face out of his hands. His mouth twitched a little at the side's attempting a smile, but then went back to its usual position once he registered the question he'd just been asked. He asked a question of his own in response.

"You're not upset this is all five year's late?"

He was surprised when his son scooted over to him, and gave him a hug.

"Nope. You're making an attempt…and it's not a really over the top extreme one this time! When you didn't say anything to me all day I figured this whole seeing a shrink thing hadn't done anything but made stuff worse, but then…." He let go, and motioned around at the food and the DVD's. "All this!"

Tenma's mouth was able to lift in smile finally, and he raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"So I'm not a _douche bag_ then?"

"You're still a douche…just not as much of one.", Astro said trying to copy his father's trademark smirk, and not quite making it. "Now tell me how ya feel about me!"

In response, Tenma leaned over the end of the couch and pulled a particular DVD out of the stack, and tossed it in his son's lap. "Pop that in."

Astro looked at the movie in his lap. It was called _'The Persuit of Happiness'._ It wasn't a black and white classic, but from the date on it, he could see it wasn't a new movie either. He got up put the DVD in the player and then sat back down. His dad was already fast-forwarding through all the previews.

When the movie started, Tenma looked down at Astro and gave him a warning look. "Don't cry during this."

Astro tilted his head to the side. "Um…okay…why not?"

"Because if you do….then I will. And I don't want to make this anymore awkward than it already is. So if you get emotional just go in the bathroom."

Astro stared. "You mean…_you_ actually _cry?"_

"Hush, and watch the film."

"Did you cry when I was born?"

Sigh. "Yes. Yes I did."

"Really?"

"_Yes._ Now watch."

"Dr. Elefun said I was born premature, and that I was really little."

"You were. Now _hush_."

"Where are all my baby pictures?"

"At home, in the file room."

"You put them in the file cabinet room? That's lame!"

"_Hush_ Astro."

"Did mom breastfeed me?"

"Yes! Now for the love of god calm down and watch the movie!"

"One more thing?"

"What?"

"You'll really answer me anything I wanna know tonight?"

"I'm going to try. That's the purpose of the movie's we're watching."

"No matter how stupid, or even hurtful the question might be?"

"I'm going to try."

Astro smiled, and nodded, turning his head back in the direction of the television screen. It was late…really late…but he was finally getting his movie night with his father. Most kid's Astro's age and older would simply have moved on and compensated for what they lacked in their relationship with their parents with the relationships they had with their friends. He wasn't most kids though. He wanted to have a relationship with his father, just as much as he did his friend's outside of him, and the little blue birthday cake, and the snack's and old DVD's showed him that as stiff and humorless as his father usually seemed…he did really care about trying to have one with him too. And he would be damned if he didn't get him to sing happy birthday to him before they'd watched the last movie!

(A/N: Yes. Astro still has little baby temper tantrums when he gets mad ! Lol Anyway's, this is the beginning of Astro and Tenma's relationship going from bad, to okay, to good. They are currently in the 'okay' stage, but by the end of the movie marathon it'll be much, much better. I just always imagined Tenma to be the type that would rather explain things with an action rather than trying to sit and have a long drawn out emotional conversation about it. Astro I think, having been neglected during his childhood, would be absolutely ecstatic to do anything with his father that showed how much he actually cared about him, hence, his 'happy baby play acting' when he saw all the food, and the movies in the living room! Enough ramblin' outta me, let's move on shall we?)

**Cora and Zane**

"STOP IT ZANE! IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

_You're wondering who I am! (Secret,secret, I've got a secret!)_

_Machine or mannequin! ( Secret, secret, I've got a secret!)_

"Oh my _god_ dude! This is _too _funny!"

"TURN IT OFF, YOU JACK ASS!"

_With parts made in Japan! ( Secret, secret, I've got a secret!)_

"_ZANE!"_

_I am __**the**__ modern man!_

"_CUT THE RADIO OFF OR YOUR NUTS PAY!"_

Cora had her hands clenched around Zane's shirt collar, her face inches away from his, glaring a hole into him with her big blue eyes. He put his hands over his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter.

"I-I'm sorry man-I just-OH MY GOD!"

"It's not funny! Turn it off!"

"Okay! Jus' lemme go and I will! Jeeze…"

Cora let go, and Zane reached up on the shelf above their heads and clicked off the radio. It was her second visit to St. Elmo to see him, and the others, and the night before, she'd had another one of those dreams about Astro. Thinking that maybe…_just maybe_ he would have more to say about it than her mother had…she'd confided in Zane about it. Bad idea. All she'd gotten was complete silence over the phone this morning, and then when she'd gotten here he'd made up a lie about a new Suicide Silence song he'd recorded off the radio just so he could make fun of her by playing '_Mr. Roboto' _right in her face.

Zane laughed for another couple of minutes, and then apologized for his bad joke.

"I'm sorry man…it's just…_you had a_ _dream that you made out with Astro!"_

"It wasn't _making out_!"

"That's what you said on the phone this morning!"

"It was just regular kissing!"

"Whatever. You totally got your freak on with him."

"Shut up Zane!"

"Does his tongue vibrate?"

"SHUT UP! You're supposed to be trying to be understanding about it, not ripping on me for it !"

Zane sat down on his twin bed, and brought his leg's up into an indian style position. He folded his arms, and looked at her with an odd expression. It was hilarious. It really was. To him anyway. This was _Astro_ they were talking about. A robot can't really be capable of…making out…and saying dippy romantic stuff to chick's right? Grant it, Astro was pretty unique…but still. Just the thought of his short, spikey haired, robot ass getting down on one knee with a bouquet of flowers and trying to 'woo' Cora, had been enough to make him laugh so hard he'd shot milk out of his nose this morning in the cafeteria. And even if he _was_ capable of.._kissing_…there were other thing's that he just wouldn't be able to do no matter what. Such as actually impress Cora with something other than his butt guns and laser cannons and stuff. That…and he was too nice. _Way_ too nice for a robot with all that fire power. And girls don't like pushover's right….right?

Cora sat down next to Zane on the bed and poked him hard in the shoulder.

"I can see those dusty old cog wheels turning in your brain, chicken boy.", she said laughing, and then giving him another hard poke in the chest. "What're you thinking?"

Zane blinked, and shook his head a little, coming out of his reverie. He scooted around on the bed so he could face her directly.

"Do you really feel like it's an actual _crush?_ Or is it just the dreams making you think that's what it is?

Cora sighed, and shrugged. She could hear Widget, Grace, and Sludge down the hall in the kid's activity room playing. She looked around the room that she and Zane sat in, the sleeping quarters for the boy's. During the week, when all the kids were doing lesson's and whatnot , Cora would have to stick to seeing them all at once in the visitation room. On the weekends though, when they weren't doing their tutoring sessions, she, and any other visitors were free to walk around without having to have one of the staff, or one of the cleaning bot's as an escort. It seemed a lot more like a Catholic Boarding School rather than just an Orphanage. They even had uniforms they had to wear. The only thing they didn't do was go to chapel on Sunday.

"I don't know. It feels like a crush…from what I've experienced before. And I don't see how I could be dreaming stuff like that if I don't…y'know."

"Maybe it's the same as when you weren't eating a lot cuz' you missed us. Maybe ya just miss him…_*snicker* a lot._"

"It's not that. And quit laughing."

"Sorry…How do you know?"

"Well…"

"Well?"

Cora scooted back on the bed a bit, hugged her knee's to her chest, and looked at the piece of wall in front of her.

"I thought about it before the dreams started. When we were all still at Hamegg's garage."

Zane's brown eyes widened in surprise at that.

"All the way back then?..Really?.. I'd always kinda thought you liked…"

Cora turned her attention away from the wall, and back to him. She raised an eyebrow.

"Thought I liked who?"

"You know…that one guy."

"What one guy?"

"That beefy dude that smokes…the one with the dreads."

"You mean Hamegg's 'tool guy' ? No way! Ew!"

"Well you were always talking about how cool you thought his tatt's and piercing's were!"

"Yeah, but he was too bulky! I don't like guys like that!"

"Astro can pick up a car. You apparently like him, now."

"I don't care about stuff like that Zane."

"So you're admitting you like him? _Really_ like him? I mean..because if you do…I won't say anything but…if you ask me…I don't think it could ever work out. He's a robot for crying out loud!"

"I know he's a robot Zane."

"You couldn't actually kiss him ya' know. He doesn't have spit. I'll bet his lips are made outta rubber too."

"I _know_."

"And he'll never get any taller or look any different either, and—"

"Shut up, Zane."

Cora had her eyes closed, facing the wall again. She had the same guilty feeling from the night before when she'd suddenly remembered she had gone a whole seven month's without bothering to try to contact Astro at all. She had been so concerned with seeing Zane and all her other friend's that she'd just sort of put him out of her mind up until that point…other than when she woke up in the morning's from another one of those dreams. She could now fully admit that she did, indeed have a crush on him, but the issue was, she wasn't sure why exactly she felt so uncomfortable about feeling that way. Saying that him being a robot was the sole reason for it just made her feel low…and besides..it wasn't like he was just any old walking, talking, machine. Astro…_felt_ things. He didn't follow a pre-programmed set of instructions and make beep-beep noises like most machines she'd met. He just…_acted._ He was a robot…but not just _any_ robot. He was…a _metal person_. 'Metal person' sounded stupid to her just thinking it…but she didn't know how else to describe it to herself to make it make any sense otherwise. He was a person. A _metal person_. A metal person she really, _really_ liked.

Cora opened up her eyes again, and looked back over at Zane.

"I'm gonna ask mom where she thinks he might be."

"You gonna tell er' about him being a robot too?"

"No. I'll get around to it eventually…but telling her now would just be _way_ too uncomfortable. I told her about the dreams already."

"How do you figure she'll know?"

Cora smiled.

"Mom's a people person. And if she doesn't have any idea, I can always go look around. His dad's a creepy looking guy in fancy clothes. How hard can that be to find?"

Zane nodded. "Alright….what're you gonna do about this whole 'crush' thing though?"

Cora's smile faltered. "I was thinking I'd just find him…and wait a while …and see if it goes away."

Zane raised a thick, brown eyebrow. "See if it goes away? Seriously?"

"Gimme a break okay! It's all I can think of doing right now!"

"First it bothers you that you like him..then it doesn't…then it does. Damn. It must suck to be a girl, and be that indesicive."

Cora puffed out her cheeks in indignation. "Me being a girl has nothing to do with it! It's just…I mean..he saved all of our lives during that fight..and he's our friend-and."

"Just admit you're a girl and you don't know what you want."

"Go fuck yourself!"

Zane laughed and scooted up and hugged Cora. For him, having her around was a lot like having a sister. He felt the same way about the younger kid's too, but because he and her were the same age, they could talk about much deeper topics than he could with the littler one's…love them to death though he did. There was one thing though, that for a while, Zane had been wanting to talk to Cora about in particular, but because of what she'd told him over the phone this morning he'd decided he'd just better not say anything at all. He had been feeling kind of odd since they'd all been separated too, and it didn't seem to be going away just because the object of the unusual feeling's he was having, was now sitting right next to him.

Cora sniffed, and shrugged off Zane's hug and looked at him in confusion for a brief moment.

Zane frowned. "What?"

"You don't smell like balls today. You actually bathed?"

"So what if I did?"

Cora laughed, and hopped up off the bed. "Let's go play with the kid's Zane."

(A/N: I thought it would make things a little more interesting if Cora wasn't the only one unsure of exactly what she was feeling. I know Zane is supposed to be like her best-friend/ brother or whatever, but it makes for interesting story conflict don't you think? Cora like's Astro who is a robot..but is uncomfortable with it, and Zane like's Cora…but is uncomfortable with it, _and_ _now _has to fear rejection because he knows she like's Astro. Lord…this is getting so much harder to write. I hope you guys like this chapter!)

**Astro, Tenma, Elefun**

Dr. Elefun was sitting in one of the arm chairs blubbering into his handkerchief like a forty year old cat lady. Tenma was sitting in the one across from him looking irritable. This was just way too much crying, and emotion for him. He needed his morning coffee. He pushed himself a little deeper into the cushions of the chair to relieve the ache in his back, and put his hand over his eyes to shield from the morning light shining through the glass ceiling. It was ten thirty the next morning, and they'd only just finished the last movie an hour ago.

"Elefun…can you…_just stop_ please?"

"I can't help it Tenmaa! That movieee! I just-I just—oh gooooddd! It reminds me so much of you and Yumi togetherrr!"

Astro was sitting on the couch looking at the picture of his mother from out in the hallway. The last movie they'd watched was _'Phantom of the Opera'._ He looked up from the photo, and over to his father. During all of the movie's they'd watched together he'd asked probably a billion questions at least and as sleepy and irritable as his dad looked right now, he wasn't sure if he should ask another….but there was one thing…one thing in particular he was still curious to know.

"Dad?"

Sigh.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask one more thing?"

" Does it have anything to do with how you were conceived?...Because I'm not answering anymore of _those_ questions."

"No."

"Go ahead then."

"You'll answer no matter how bad it is?"

"I told you what I keep in the black box in my closet didn't I?" Tenma uncovered his eyes.

Astro shuddered at the memory, and Dr. Elefun, who had joined their video night right after he'd asked the question, nearly choked on his tear soaked handkerchief. He stopped crying abruptly and looked at Tenma like he was crazy.

"You told him about-about that box of _horrors_ you keep in there?"

"I promised him I'd tell him whatever he wanted to know."

"But you shouldn't have told him about _that_! What if he has nightmare's?"

"Just because _you_ shudder at the thought of having anything other than another man's phallus near your backside doesn't mean Astro's going to keel over in the night because of something I told him. And besides…you know he doesn't sleep. I haven't figured out how to make that happen quite yet."

Tenma looked back over to his son, and smiled. "What is it you want to ask? This is going to have to be it for now. I need a nap, and I've got to go out to the house again later tonight…and on top of that…when I get back…_you_ need to be ready to answer _my_ questions."

Astro nodded, set the photograph on the coffee table, and then set about thinking of how best to ask the question he wanted to know the answer to. After a moment, he looked back up, and spoke again.

"I don't really know how to ask… and I don't wanna make you mad or upset but..how did mom die?"

"…."

Astro frowned. For a moment, he almost thought his father was going to run in the bathroom and slam the door behind him like he had when they'd watched the ending of _'Titanic'. _Dr. Elefun looked up from his handkerchief, his eye's sliding over to with a look of concern in them.

"We'll…we'll discuss that…when.."

He leaned his head back on the cushion of the chair, and shielded his eyes again. "I'm not ready. I'll discuss it with you when I am. I'm sorry."

Astro bit his lip and looked down. "Okay. Want me…to fix your coffee?"

"No..no..I'll do without today. Pull out the couch bed for me though."

"Alright."

Dr. Elefun blew his nose loudly, stuck the handkerchief in his pants pocket, and then got up to stretch, his large belly stretching out his dress shirt and making him look even more round. Tenma chuckled.

"When you die Elefun, they'll bury you on your stomach for sure."

"And why's that?", Elefun said putting his hands on his hips.

"Two reason's. The first, to give your _ass_ a break from having to bare all that weight when you sit down. The second, to give the catholic priest doing your eulogy something to look at during the service."

A snicker from Astro.

"Oh go _on_ Tenma! I'm going to bed!"

Dr. Elefun stomped out o through the living room door and into the hallway, and once he was gone, Astro let loose with full blown laughter.

"Dad-d-do you do that to Dr. Elefun _all_ the time?", he said tossing the throw pillows on to the right side of the mattress.

_Yawn._ "Not all the time. You got the bed out?"

"Yup! Pillows and everything already in place!"

"Thank you."

Tenma worked off his scuffed Italian leather shoes, and then bent down and took off his socks. He frowned. He really needed to clip his toe nails….and shower. He stood up and ran the tips of his fingers through his now fully grown beard. He needed to shave all _this_ off too….but he'd worry about that after he'd had some sleep. He walked over to the full-sized pull out bed and flopped onto it face first.

"Dad?"

"What son?"

"Your feet smell."

"Want to get in bed with me and sniff my arm pits? They're kicking up a pretty good rumpus right now too."

"Ugh! No!"

"Then go find something to do."

Astro kicked the pull out bed lightly in response to being sent away, and after receiving an angry growl from his father, retreated to the room that had been set up for him by Dr. Elefun when they'd moved in. It was a small, circular room, with a glass ceiling like the one in the living room. The walls were white, and metallic gray like everywhere else in Dr. Elefun's house. It was kind of odd. He had been hearing his dad joke about how Dr. Elefun was playing for the other team since they'd been here…you would think that his decorating style would be a bit brighter and more flamboyant than this if that were really true.

Astro sighed and sat down on the little green bean bag chair, next to the cot he kept his clothes and shoes on. Dr. Elefun had offered him the cot to sleep on originally, and apologized for not having a spare bed in the room, but since Astro didn't really have a need for a place to sleep, he'd been using it as a place to put all his clothes so he could get to them easily. The only other thing in the room besides the cot, his clothes, and the chair was a little cardboard box full of some hand held game's, and crossword puzzle book's and other thing's he'd brought from home to keep himself from getting too bored. He leaned over, grabbed the box and dug around inside it until he found what he was looking for….his personal photo album. He opened it and stuck the picture of his mom he'd gotten from Dr. Elefun in the first available slot, and smiled down at the image of her holding up the award…her chocolate brown eyes shining with pride. He had learned so much about her last night…but it still didn't feel like enough.

_**-Flashback-**_

"_So..dad? Can I ask a really embarrassing question?"_

"_You asked me what we did on our honey moon, five minutes ago. What could be worse than that?"_

"_How…um.." Astro bit his lip and looked off to the side. The movie __'Accepted'__ was playing in the background._

"_What?"_

"_Is it true you and mom had…'trouble' at first? Getting me I mean?"_

_Tenma looked over at Dr. Elefun who held up his hands, and shook his head, his abnormally large nose making a little moving shadow on the wall in front of him._

"_I didn't say anything about it I swear!"_

_He glared. "__**Didn't you Elefun?**__"_

"_Why don't you just stop minding me Tenma, and answer him! I said I didn't and I'm sticking to my story!" He folded his arms, stuck his nose in the air, and leaned back in his easy chair trying to look innocent but failing royally._

_Tenma sighed, and looked back over at his son who was switching between looking down at his feet and over at him in quick glances so as not to be looked at as being too eager to receive an answer._

"_Yes..we had some issues…conceiving."_

"_What kind of issues?"_

"_Why do you keep asking me question's like this?"_

"_I'm just curious!"_

"_Ask something else!"_

"_But I wanna know the answer to that one!"_

"_**Ask. Another. Question!**__"_

"_Fine then! What was mom's favorite flower?"_

"_Day Lillies. She loved them."_

"_Her favorite color?"_

"_Amethyst."_

"_Did you and mom ever fight?"_

"_All couples do, but most of ours were near the end."_

"_What did you fight about?"_

"_Me being lazy. Apparently I wasn't..working enough."_

_Astro's face fell, and turned away towards the kitchen door. You could visibly see his bottom lip trembling. He sniffled loudly, and then got up and hurried off into the kitchen, mumbling something about needing a drink._

"_She…__**wanted**__ you to work all the time?"_

"_It's complicated son. I'll explain….when I'm ready."_

(A/N: At the end of the chapter I'll explain what question's Astro asked and what movie's Tenma attempted to use to answer them so you guys can see where I'm going with my little interpretation of Hoshie and Tenma's relationship, and describe the movies that have to do with Astro's and his relationship too. I read some information about what Tezuka had originally written but since I'm a bleeding heart and a sucker for romance, I decided to do my own less depressing version of events all inspired by another person here on . She knows who she is. And if she doesn't….well..-hugs Magnacarter-. Now she does!)

'_When I'm ready.'_

Astro sighed and flipped through the pages of his little photo album until he came to the page where he kept photos of all his old school friends. What did they think of him now? Did all of them even know he had been the little boy robot booking it around Metro City in skin-tight black shorts, and red boots? Had it even been announced at school when he'd died? Did any of them come to his funeral? These were all rather confusing…and depressing thoughts…but it was something that Astro couldn't help but wonder about. When he'd asked during the movie marathon, he'd been told that it had taken all of about a year to build him. What happened during that year? Was he buried…or cremated? Should he even still be thinking of himself as 'Tobio'? Should he just be 'Astro'? Or should he just go on as he had been and let his father and Dr. Elefun refer to him as both? Most of what he'd asked about last night had been centered around his mother because he'd genuinely wanted to know about her. As far back as he can remember he'd only ever heard his dad talk about her maybe a couple of times, and it had never been for very long or in very great detail. All of the questions he'd wanted to ask about himself, he'd pushed to the back burner because he wasn't sure how to ask them without making it any more confusing than it already was.

Astro looked over at the last photo he'd taken while still living in the Outland's with Cora, and all the other kid's, and thought about the thing's they'd all told him in private about their origins. Many of them had told him stories of how they had been mistreated by their parent's, and were then graciously taken in by Hamegg. Hamegg, who in the end, was just a robot slave peddler who'd used them all to find parts to salvage and rebuild other robot's he'd built up and destroyed in his 'Robot Games'. Zane, Cora's, and the twin's stories had all been different though, and he laughed when he thought of what Cora said to him the night he'd caught her out by Hamegg's car trying to phone her mother.

_**-Flashbac**_**k-**

"_I don't have to phone home __**every night**__! She's not the boss of me! I do whatever the fuck I want!"_

_**Phone: **__'EXCUSE ME? __**WHAT**__ THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?'_

_Cora's eye's got as big as saucers. She hadn't realized the phone was still on. She picked it back up off the hood of the car frantically, nearly dropping it in the process of trying to get it back up to her mouth to speak._

"_I didn't say anything mom! I love you—bye!" Click._

_Astro laughed._

"_So she's __**not**__ the boss of you then?"_

"_Shut up Astro! You tell anyone that happened and I'll smack you!"_

After that night, he'd spent a lot more time with her than he had any of the others…and not just because she made it easy either, always needing to be caught from slipping off of the top of Zog when they were prepping him for battle or because she constantly had to be kept from sliding down large piles of discarded robot's out in the miles of junkyard they spent hours every day scavenging through. He wasn't human…but if he had been, and there was someone looking in through the glass ceiling of his minimally furnished room at that moment, they would see a teenage boy, blushing furiously, and looking longingly at a photo of a girl with black hair and bright pink high-light's pointing at the taker of the picture irritably with a wrench in her hand. As it stood though..Astro didn't have blood…so he couldn't blush, but he could definitely pull off the 'look of longing' without any trouble at all.

The day he'd gotten the picture, he'd asked Cora if he could use her camera to take a picture of something cool he'd found outside. Seeing as how there was never much to look at at Hamegg's garage other than bits and pieces of old robot's and house appliance's, she had expressed interest in seeing what it was he wanted to take a picture of, which was when he'd decided to snap a picture of _her_ instead of the large spider web with dew drops hanging from it in the tree in the back. It would've come out much better had she not immediately taken offense and threatened to beat him black and blue for taking a picture of her in the morning before she'd gotten to brush her hair down and wash the crap out of her eyes. It was the only one he had of her without everyone else in it though, and that was good enough. Ugly hair and crap on her face or not, he'd want to see her even if she looked worse than Dr. Elefun in the morning. And _that_ was saying something. Especially considering Dr. Elefun's nose hair seemed to always grow exponentially fast when he was sleeping, and Astro had had the misfortune to walk by the bathroom and catch him plucking at them on several very unpleasant occasions.

He closed the photo album, stuck it back in the box, and took out one of the three game systems he'd brought with him, along with the game _Wii Sports._ He frowned. He wished he'd had more time to get some of his other games. _Wii Sports_ was more of a group thing. It was either this, or _Tiger Woods_ though, and he knew if he played that, his dad would wake up and try to give him subtle hints about what clubs he should use on particular shots. Yeah…_Wii Sports_ …definitely. He glanced back at the photo album.

'_Sure would be nice to have someone to play this with..'_

With that last thought, he got up, and went back out into the living room where his father was still lying face down on the bed. Astro stared at him as he crept over to the television and started hooking up his game system. Was he even really asleep? It looked like he was just lying there on his face…not moving…or breathing..or anything. It was creepy.

It took him about five minutes to hook it up, and when the little welcome screen came up with the 'Mii Creator' and all the other Wii feature's, Astro came up with a fun idea. He scrolled over to the 'Mii Creator' and clicked it. He typed in the new female 'Mii's' name.

He laughed. "Wonder if I can give it pink highlights?"

(A/N: I thought Astro making a 'Mii' of Cora on the Wii and playing Wii boxing with it, would be just the cutest thing ever, so I did it! Getting close to the end of this chapter. God my fingers hurt!)

**Astro, Tenma, Elefun (Sunset)**

"You want me to come with you?"

Astro was sitting on the rim of the toilet in the bathroom watching his father shave. The sun was just starting to go down outside, and the white tile's in Dr. Elefun's otherwise bland, colorless bathroom were awash in gold.

"Yes. We might not be coming back tonight."

Astro's eyes lit up.

"Really? No joke?"

"No joke."

Tenma angled his chin a little to the left, and glided the razor down, flicking the mix of shaving cream and hair into the sink.

"But how? I thought we didn't have the money…"

"We don't."

Tenma examined himself in the mirror a moment, and grabbed the towel hanging on the rack above his sons head, and cleaned the remaining shaving cream off his face. He took another moment, looking in the mirror, to toy with his go-tee, and then, satisfied that he hadn't cut it too short, rinsed the foamy piles of left over shaving cream and hair down the drain.

Astro tilted his head in confusion.

"Then if we don't…_have it_..how're we gonna-?"

"We're going to…_politely_ ask for our _slave_ reparations from the government this evening."

Tenma grinned slyly at his reflection in the mirror as he cleaned off his silver straight razor underneath the cold water. Astro frowned. He could see why Dr. Elefun was always so paranoid around him now. He was stroking that razor like he was thinking about doing something besides just shaving with it… Last night, he'd had no idea he had such a creepy, brooding, father. Especially when he'd tripped over the waste basket trying to get to the bathroom so he and Dr. Elefun wouldn't see him crying over the end of _'Gone With The Wind'._

Astro thought hard. There had been something they'd watched last night out of the stack of films…an old black and white classic..that described to a 'T' what he was feeling about his father at this moment. He watched him snap the straight razor shut with a flick of his wrist, and stick it back in his leather shaving kit. Then it came to him. _'Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde'. _ He was funny, interesting and intellectual one moment, the next, he was scary, and dark….and doing creepy things like standing in the middle of the bathroom with the light off staring at himself in the mirror.

Astro bit his lip and furrowed his brows. _'Is dad bipolar or something?'_

"You mean we're meeting someone?"

"Mhm."

"Who?"

"Would you get my shirt and pants off the arm of the couch in the living room?"

"Yeah…sure..but who're we meeting?"

"The _government_ son. The _government_. If we're going to keep going through this process of trying to understand one another, then you have to pay attention to my witty similies and metaphors."

"Uh…yeah ..okay."

Astro slipped out of the bathroom, and walked down the hallway toward the living room. If he'd had a stomach, it would be doing flips right now. Maybe even trying to force its contents up and out of his mouth. The government? They'd stayed out in a tent for two whole, agonizing weeks in the Outland's to try to_ stay away_ from the government. They'd been living with Dr. Elefun in his drab, drearily decorated, penthouse for the past six and a half months for that same purpose hadn't they? Why now, of all the things they could be doing…like maybe making a new start _elsewhere_…would they be going to talk to the same people that had worked his father to the _marrow_ for years building military weopans? Why would they be going to talk to the same people who had only a few months ago, after his father had been unwilling to deactivate him, tried to destroy him?

Astro grabbed his father's clothes off the arm of the couch, and then proceeded to walk back to the bathroom.

'_Maybe dad is bipolar…maybe he had a change of heart or something…maybe—'_

A flash of bright light shown out of both of Astro's eyes, tears began to course down his cheeks, and into his open mouth. His father's clothes, which he'd been holding in his arms…fell to the floor in a heap at his feet. He stopped moving.

_**-Flashback-**_

"_Blah! Blah! Blah! It's __**just**__ a machine! Deactivate it already!"_

_Dr. Elefun put himself between Tenma and the guard pushing Astro toward him. Astro couldn't see. He'd had his eyes shut tight ever since President Stone had told him he'd be bringing him back to his father to be turned off. He felt his face collide with Dr. Elefun's squishy backside, and it was all he could do not to start full on bawling and hug the man for trying so hard…even now._

"_Tenma tell them you won't do it-! You __**know**__ this wrong! __**YOU CAN'T**__!"_

_President Stone waved a hand to the men behind him. They pointed their guns._

"_Get outta the way Elefun or I'll have your fat ass deactivated as well! __**PERMANENTLY**__! I don't have time for games! I have an election to win!"_

_The guard behind Astro continued to push, but Dr. Elefun refused to move._

"_I won't! This boy has feelings, and rights too! You can't just-!"_

"_Move, Elefun."_

_Astro lost it. He wrapped his arms around Dr. Elefun's waist, and went into to full scale, open-mouth, face scrunched, bawling like a baby._

_His father spoke again. "Move, Elefun. President Stone is right. There's no point in either of us getting killed over a soulless machine."_

"_Tenma,__** look**__ at him! You can't __**possibly**__ mean what you're saying!"_

"_Move or they'll shoot you Elefun."_

"_But-!"_

_Astro felt the warmth of Dr. Elefun's back suddenly disappear after hearing a thud, and then 'oomph' from the elderly man. He did not open his eyes. If they'd really hurt him..he didn't want to see. The guard behind him grabbed the back of his shirt, and shoved him forward roughly. Very roughly. He fell flat on his face on what he presumed…must be his father's pattened leather shoes. Surprisingly enough, he did not just stand and wait for him to get up, but actually bent down and helped him. Astro opened his teary eyes and took a quick look as he was being guided over to the little work table. What he saw when he looked almost made him close his eyes again._

_His father..or rather 'Dr. Tenma' as he should probably stick to thinking of him as since he was about to deactivate him… looked awful. He was…sweaty…and clammy..and his eyes were watery and dialated looking. He had dark circles, and it looked like he had missed several appointments with his razor. His chin was covered with small patches of spiny black hair that would eventually be a full grown beard if he never did anything about it._

_He was lifted up onto the work table and then forced onto his back by a push from ''s' hand. He shut his eyes again and turned his head to the left, another fresh batch of tears finding their way from up underneath his eye lids. Maybe it was just a circuit gone wrong. Maybe it was just instincts from all the memories he had of being human, but when Astro felt his chest panel opening up..he began to plead with '' not to shut him down. He felt ashamed to be begging for a life he didn't really have. An artificial life. Robot's aren't supposed to feel shame. And they aren't supposed to be afraid to die…if dying is really what you can call it when your batteries go out._

"_Please! Don't turn me off! I have friends! Please-! Please! I can be useful! I can work, or—or-!"_

"SON, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP THIS! WAKE UP! SPEAK TO ME!"

Tenma whipped his head around, and looked at Dr. Elefun, panic stricken. He was standing on his knees in front of his son with his arms wrapped tight around him.

"WHAT _TIME_ IS IT ELEFUN? HOW LONG?"

Dr. Elefun bit his lip, and glanced back at his pocket watch.

"He's been out for thirty minutes now…"

"GET MY BAG!"

"Tenma…I don't think we ought to try doing anything to him when-."

"GET MY FUCKING BAG!"

"_No_, Tenma! If there's something wrong you might just make it worse trying to fix it! He'll snap out of it like he did before-just calm down!"

Tenma unwrapped his arms from around his son and shook him with everything he could muster. He couldn't just _'calm down'_. Not when there was something wrong…something really, _really_ wrong with his child. The entire thirty minutes since he'd found him out in the hall, he'd been repeating over and over again that he didn't want to be shut down and that he could be useful. He was doing it now. Even as he was being shaken.

"Don't throw me away! I'll do anything! I'll work—I'll do whatever you want!"

Dr. Elefun walked closer, and bent over to look. Tenma stopped shaking him, and proceeded to slap him multiple times in the face out of desperation.

"Tobio-! Astro, please! I'm not going to throw you away or hurt you—JUST WAKE UP! PLEASE!"

The tears haulted, and Astro's light's shut off, returning his eyes to their original brown just as his father's hand collided with his face again.

"Ow!"

Astro jerked away from his dad, and put his hand to his face. "Why'd you slap me?"

Dr. Elefun stepped forward and spoke first. "Y-you had another lock-up Astro...we were just trying to get you to wake up."

Tenma took a deep breath, and stood up, still looking panicky. "How do you _feel_ son?"

"My face hurts! That's how I feel!"

"I gather that…but..is there-is there something we should talk about before we leave?"

Astro turned around towards the end of the hallway, and ran the back of his sleeve across his moist eyes.

"I don't wanna talk about it…_any_ of it…let's just go to the house and meet whoever you want me to meet already!"

He heard Dr. Elefun's nervous shuffling behind him, and for a moment or two, nothing from his father.

"Alright. Get your shoes on and let's go."

Tenma retreated to the other end of the hallway, and entered the door that led into Elefun's greenhouse. Elefun had been keeping the car in the back of the house since they'd been there so anyone looking for him would think he was missing as well. He pushed his way through the overgrown plants, and foliage all the way to the end of the building to the back door.

'_You don't want to talk about it now…but you'll definitely be talking to me about it later. All those embarrassing questions about…my '__**feelings**__' and whatnot…he'll be answering __**all**__ my questions tonight. No matter how embarrassing or hurtful they may be.'_

**Astro, Tenma, Emily**

"What? No Rob, he isn't here yet…no..no he didn't say anything about that, but I'll-what?"

Emily turned up the volume on her phone. She had been sitting in Dr. Tenma's ballroom sized kitchen since five thirty. She got up out of the cushy, cherry wood dining chair and walked over to the look out one of the curtained windows over the sink, the sound of her clicking heels echoing off the walls. No sign of anything yet.

"_What_ did you say? No! No-I told you I-dammit Rob will you stop reminding me of that incident?"

_**Phone:**__' But he __**hit**__**you**__ with a __**riding crop**__ Emily! People who..__**do those things**__ are deranged and—and masochistic! Why are you there alone? What if you get hurt? What if-?'_

She could see headlights pulling into the driveway now.

'_Figure's he'd be late..'_

"I have to go Rob. He's here."

She snapped her phone shut, stuck it into her purse and made her way to the living room. The front door closed just as she rounded the corner into the foyer where she found not just one pair of feet, but two. One, in badly scuffed and peeling italian leather shoes, the other, in a busted up, dirty pair of Converse.

"Hello again, Ms. Neile."

Dr. Tenma made a sweeping motion with his arm, and the boy standing next to him, who she knew had to be Astro walked around her into the living room after mumbling a quick hello. She raised her hand in response, watched him run up the first couple of stairs visible from round the corner in the foyer, and then disappear from sight.

Emily turned back around. "You don't want him to know what-?"

"I discussed it with him on the way here. He knows."

He walked past her out of the foyer, and after a moment, followed. When she entered the living room again, he was over at the cabinet pulling out a glass and the crystal bottle of brandy Mustachio had taken out and offered her a drink from last she was here.

She folded her arms. "So…I guess I should start first by telling you what it is we want to offer you and your son."

Tenma turned around, full glass of brandy in hand, and went over and sat on the piano bench.

"And then I'll follow up by letting _you_ know whether or not your offer is good enough." He crossed his legs and leaned back against the piano.

Emily narrowed her eyes. He was sitting there looking way too smug with that drink in his hand. She ignored his comment and walked over to the couch, and sat down.

"Our records tell us that when you built Astro, you exhausted not only your own personal finances, but those of the Ministry of Science's Robotics' department as well…in total….your son cost all of eight point nine million dollars to build."

Tenma chuckled, and took a sip of his brandy.

"Your records are off by about a hundred thousand dollars…but go on."

"Yes…um…are you aware that you were charged with embezzlement of government funds when he was completed?"

"I'm aware of that. Yes."

Another sip of brandy.

"Then I'm sure you're also aware how much jail time comes along with that? Especially given the significant amount taken."

"Mhm."

"President Logan signed the necessary papers last night to clear you of the embezzlement charge. He also wants to give you back all the personal finance you lost."

Tenma sat his glass of brandy down on the piano keys, unsettling dust and gave a look of mock surprise.

"Oh really? All seven hundred twenty-five thousand of it? Including the college fund I'd had set up for my son? Do I get my yacht back too?"

Emily nodded. "Yes…although we didn't know you had a yacht, so I'm afraid you'll just have to speak to whoever you pawned it off to about getting _that_ back."

"So embezzlement charges dropped….all my money back. What else do I get?"

Emily stuck her hand in the pocket of her navy blue pencil skirt, and pulled out a small, folded over leather badge with the Ministry of Science's logo on it. She tossed it into his lap.

Tenma glanced down at it without opening it to look at what was in it, and then back up into the irritated eyes of the woman who'd given it to him.

"So I'm Minister of Science…once again?"

"You always have been. No one ever struck your name from the record or made any claim to the position."

Emily folded her arms, her sharp blue eyes floating up to the top of the stair case and resting on Astro's bedroom door.

Tenma was still sitting in the same position. Leg's crossed, leaning back against the grand piano. His expression looked dubious though, as to how no one…not one person…had tried to step up and assume the Minister's seat when it was apparent he most likely wouldn't be coming back. There had always been people sniffing around waiting for him to step down…especially during times when he'd been going through a lot of personal turmoil. They waited for years for him to crack when Yumi died…and boy were those damned vultures holding their breath when Toby was being torn limb from limb..his blood and guts being spattered all over the floor and all over the clear shielding right in front of him. Anger….and sadness..rose up in him at the memory of it. He kept his face from betraying it to the person across from him though. He sat up straight and uncrossed his legs. Time now to make his demands.

"Ms. Neile, this proposal in unacceptable."

Emily sighed, and faced him. "And _why_ Dr. Tenma, is this proposal unacceptable to you?"

"You didn't say anything about what you would do for my son. He'd be the one prancing around in front of your camera's preaching 'peace' and 'love' and all that rub-not me. What about him?"

Emily unfolded her arms, scooted forward on the couch, sticking her hands on either side of herself, and asked simply, "What does he want?"

Tenma responded by immediatley frosting her with a look of suspicion.

"You're asking-or rather you're _going _to ask my _son_—who is a _robot _what it is he _wants_ and then give it to him?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't we? He's a hero. Robot or not. "

She waited a moment, and when Tenma's expression did not change, she asked again.

"What does Astro want?"

They both turned at the sound of a pair of feet walking toward them. Astro held a serious expression on his face. One much too serious for someone his age. He stopped when he got to the edge of the heavy, golden-gilt coffee table, and looked over at Emily.

"I want three things. If you say no, tell me it's impossible, or that you can't do anything for me-_then I won't do anything for you!"_

Emily nodded, and waited.

"First, you have to give my dad more money. A _lot _more."

"More money for what?"

"For _me_! And for any other major developments he makes in robotics! And no more making him make military weapons!"

Emily blinked slowly, her expression not changing. "And?"

"Second, I wanna see my friends-! And _third_, I want you to make Dr. Elefun dad's Vice Minister instead of that other guy!"

Tenma smiled. "Thank you, son. I was going to ask that myself before you came down. I do get so _tired_ of seeing old Glaylock in my office every morning. Smart man…but very dry personality. That, and he's _terrible_ with the foreign dignitaries. Make's Russian sound like pig grunting."

Astro folded his arms. "That's what I want! And if you say you won't do it then-!"

Emily stood up from her seat on the couch, walked over and patted Astro's shoulder, and smiled, letting the contempt she felt for his brash, irritating father wash out of her eyes.

"You got it."

Astro looked up at her skeptically. "You'll really do all of it?"

"The extra money part will be difficult, but I'll definitely try."

She stretched, and looked over at the grandfather clock situated over by the fireplace. It was nine fifteen.

"If there isn't anything else you would like Astro…Dr. Tenma…then I have to go on ahead and talk to the president about what it is we've agreed upon here tonight."

Emily bent and grabbed her purse, giving Astro another friendly smile, and Tenma another look of contempt.

Tenma gave her a once over with his dark eyes, and smirked, making her regret ever looking back at him in the first place.

"I see you followed my advice and took your hair out of that school marmish bun. _Much_ better."

Emily did not give a verbal response. She made her way quickly to the foyer, and exited out the front door, making absolutely sure he saw the crude hand gesture she made at him behind her back by waving it back and forth.

Astro looked at his father, his hand clamped over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Tenma rolled his eyes, grabbed his glass of brandy and took a big gulp.

"She's clean out of luck in that respect. I don't do blondes."

(A/N: Okay. Hoped you guys liked that. I know I'd originally said I'd have Cora and Astro meeting up in this chapter, but once I got started writing, I decided I wanted to wait and do it in a different way. Anywho, here's a list of some of the movies Tenma and Astro watched together and how they pertain to the question's Astro asked. If anyone gets curious about any of the other's I mentioned, ask me! Read and Review please!)

'_Persuit of Happiness'-__ Astro asked Tenma how he felt about him, and what better movie shows what a parent is willing to go through for the love of a child, than this one? I thought so anyway._

'_Phantom of the Opera'-__ He asked what Tenma and Hoshie's relationship was like, and for the fic I'm writing on the side, it fit. I know it sounds corny! But I couldn't find anything that did it better._

'_Titanic'-__ Tenma cries at the end of this, and __'Gone with the Wind' __because both movies remind him of the very last conversations he had with his wife before she died. Niether or which were good ones._


	5. Chapter 5: Let That Be Your Cross

(A/N: Hello again. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It was really difficult to write. There were so many things I wanted to get down, but that I ended up having to rearrange or take out in favor of putting it in the next chapter. Anywho, don't forget to review and tell me what you think! You guys really make my day! Thanks!)

**Chapter Five: Let That Be Your Cross**

"So…you're _not_ joking then?"

Astro glanced over at the object in the display case. He and his father were standing outside of a high-tech music store in the Metro City Mall with heaps and heaps of shopping bags already in the cart behind them.

Dr. Elefun's nose could be seen around the side of cart, quivering in anticipation of what Tenma's answer was going to be. He had been with them almost the entire day watching Tenma swipe his debit card over and over again in several stores. The last store they'd been in, Tenma'd spent almost eight hundred dollars on three pairs of leather dress shoes and two sets of twenty-four karat gold cuff-links, both with his initials inscribed on them. There was just no way possible he hadn't spent over ten thousand dollars already…there was just no way…and if he agreed to buy Astro that four thousand dollar stereo system he was now staring at in the display case…he knew he was going to just pass out right then and there.

"Why would I joke?"

Tenma smiled, patted Astro on the head, and then _gave him_ his Visa.

Astro stared, his mouth hanging open in shock, and holding the card in his hand like he'd never seen anything like it in the world.

"Y-you're gonna let _me_-?"

"Yes. Now go pay for the thing before I change my mind."

Astro ran off into the store, not having to be told twice.

Tenma turned around to the sound of one of Dr. Elefun's loud sniffs of disapproval. He was standing there with his arms folded up over his large belly, glaring and shaking his head.

"You're spoiling him Umataro…just like before. He doesn't need that stereo system, and you know it! You're just trying to compensate for time you know you're going to lose when we start back at the Ministry!"

"And _you _Elefun, didn't need to visit the food court eleven times today, either, did you? And I find it odd you're chastising me about overcompensation when you frequently lie to all those '_bottoms_' at the '_G-Club'_ about how-."

Dr. Elefun interrupted Tenma mid-sentence as a woman and a group of young, laughing children walked by, cotton candy and balloons in their hands. Someone had to make sure that the minds of impressionable young children stayed pure and innocent…and that someone wouldn't ever be Tenma, who'd been prepared to go into full detail about what he did or _didn't do _on the weekend's right in front of them. _The beast_

"Don't you make this about me! I'm talking about _you!_ You told me you and Astro talked last night!"

"We did."

"Then why are you buying him that stereo? And the dirt bike-and the plasma TV-and the fog machine, and the disco ball?"

Tenma rolled his eyes and turned and walked a ways around the corner of the display case outside of the store, and peeked in at Astro who was bouncing up and down in front of the store manager, pointing outside frantically at the shiny new entertainment system he was about to buy.

"Astro!"

Astro stopped his gleeful bouncing and turned to look at his father.

"Yeah dad?"

"Just meet me at the car. There's one other store I need to go into before we leave."

"Okay!"

Astro went back to bouncing and pointing.

"Astro!"

"Yeah dad?"

Tenma's face melded into a severe, threatening expression Astro had only ever seen a handful of times before during his childhood.

"You buy _anything_ other than what I gave you permission for and I will _end _you! Do you understand me?"

Bouncing end. Astro gulped, and nodded, and so did the manager and sales associates standing around him. He may have been able to lift hundreds of tons….shoot lasers from his finger's, and everything else under the sun…but Astro was still only a thirteen year old boy. A thirteen year old boy with a father he'd once seen strike fear into a four star military general by threatening him with a _paperclip_. He watched his father's expression switch instantly back to that of 'proud papa', wave, smile serenely, and then walk leisurely off in the direction of the Smoke Shoppe across the way, with Dr. Elefun lumbering behind him pushing the shopping cart with all their bags in it.

Metro City Mall, oddly enough, had been one of the few places that had suffered only minimal damages in Astro's fight with the Peacekeeper. About seventy-five percent of it was situated underground in between both the business districts and the lower income housing areas, so when the power source keeping the city up in the air had been knocked out, and Astro had flown under to slow it's fall, it lessened the impact enough so that only the two entrances to it had really needed much repairing, and teams were able to move on quickly to other areas. Dr. Elefun looked around tentively at the worker-bee robots finishing up painting and drywall work on a few old stores that had yet to open up. They were all that was left of the construction team that had begun work here seven months ago. He remembered watching the news for a long time about how much people were looking forward to having something to look at that wasn't all busted up and broken before Tenma and Astro had shown up on his doorstep, both of them dirty and miserable looking and spitting fire at one another….their relationship just as busted up and broken as the smoking ruins they'd festered in together for two solid weeks.

Elefun looked Tenma up and down, and then looked away again quickly. He was talking to another man at the register about some undoubtedly incredibly expensive brand of tobacco for his pipe. Elefun looked back across the way over at Astro, who was making goo-goo eyes at the six-foot, hi-definition hologram projector that went with his brand new stereo system as it was all being carefully boxed and put on a dolly. They'd come a long way from how they'd started out months ago. A _long_ way…but you could tell they still had some issues to work out. Especially after what happened this morning.

_**-Flashback-**_

_**(That Morning)**_

"_GAHHH! MEK ET SHTOOOPPPP!"_

"_I'M TRYING-! HOLD STILL DAMMIT!"_

"_GRET IT ROFF MEEE!"_

"_IF YOU'LL STOP KICKING-I WILL!"_

_Tenma was leaning over Astro with his knee planted in the middle of his chest trying to pull the fifty, burned, short circuited, electrodes from off of his sons tongue…and not having any success whatsoever, even with Dr. Elefun trying to both soothe the pain, and get the electrodes to slide off by rubbing an ice cube and a little bit of butter over them._

"_HWELLLLPPP!"_

"_**STOP**__ KICKING!"_

_He gave another sharp yank, and the electrodes came off, leaving tiny little burn marks and indentations on Astro's tongue._

_Astro clamped his hands over his sore mouth, and groaned loudly, tears slipping out from underneath his tightly shut eyelids._

_Tenma threw the ruined wiring over his shoulder, and then, rather than try to console his son, shoved his hands out from over his mouth, and dropped a green apple jolly rancher he'd had in his pocket into it. Astro spluttered and spit it out with so much force it shattered on the cabinet door directly behind Dr. Elefun, who sat looking shocked at Tenma's lack of sensitivity._

"_Tenma he's __**hurt**__-! And because of something __**you**__ did wrong! How can you be so cruel?"_

_Astro crawled out from between the two of them with his hands back over his mouth rubbing back and forth across his singed lips; his eyes still shut tight and leaking tears._

"_I __**hate**__ green apple!"_

"_Finally!"_

"_And I __**hate **__you dad!"_

_Tenma folded his arms and smirked. "You hate me now…but you won't hate me when you find out what flavor lip balm that girl you like so much wears will you?"_

"_God—__**shut up**__! I should've never told you __**anything**__!"_

"_Her name is Cora right? The skinny aggressive looking one on the picture you showed me? Bet she wears coconut. Most punk girls do."_

"_Shut __**up**__ Dad! And she's not punk! You don't even know what punk is!"_

"_Perhaps one day you could invite her over for dinner after I've finished fixing Nora and-."_

"_I would __**never**__ bring my friends around you! __**Especially not her**__!"_

_Dr. Elefun looked nervously back and forth between the two…almost, but not quite understanding Astro's sudden burst of anger at his father who, by all accounts this time, was really truly trying to make an attempt to be friendly. When Astro had been younger…and __**human**__, he had never before been allowed to have any company over his own age because Tenma was so frequently working on paperwork, or blueprints for new projects, and didn't like the noise. On several occasions, he himself had been pleaded with to keep the little boy busy on days when he was out of school so his father wouldn't be disturbed by his caterwauling when he refused to play with him, or have to put up with him grabbing onto his leg in the mornings and begging and pleading for him to not go to work and leave him alone at home for so many hours._

_Tenma's triumphant, cheerful expression changed to a confused and slightly hurt one. He stood up, his head tilted slightly; looking over at his son who was looking back at him still rubbing his mouth and glaring with teary brown eyes. He looked behind his shoulder at the ruined wiring and over at his glossy, cherry wood, kitchen table with the machine he'd been using moments ago to activate the artificial taste buds on Astro's tongue. _

"_I'll….let you tell me when you're ready next time. Agreed?"_

_Sniff._

"_Yeah. I'd appreciate that."_

_**-Flashback End-**_

"Elefun… which do you like? Turkish? Burley? Virginian..?"

"Neither, Tenma. I'm good in the tobacco department, thank you anyway."

"Are you sure? I know smoking those pasty, lifeless Virginia Slims has been getting old for you. At least let me get you a box of Partagas!"

"I'm fine, you don't have to."

Tenma nodded, and paid the cashier for his various selections of pipe tobaccos, and imported cigars. He looked around at all the boxes upon boxes of lung-cancer inducing finery, and then down at his black, leather gloved hands, new Italian leather shoes, crisp, clean, lavender dress shirt, and black dress slacks to match the long, wool trench coat with the silver buttons on it he'd gotten from the Burberry Propos men's department. Part of him wanted to pack all of it away until he could rub it in the faces of those at the Ministry who'd always been annoyed at his pension for throwing his big, well deserved paychecks in their faces, but it just felt far too good to not have his big toe sticking out of the front of his right shoe…and even better to not have to watch his son try to patch up his tennis shoes with duct tape and card board to go play out in the yard.

Elefun was digging around through one of the bags in the front of the shopping cart. He pulled out a DVD case with a rather questionable title on it and glared at Tenma giving him another one of his sniffs of disapproval.

"_Really _Tenma?"

"Oh _hush_ fat man! You have your interests—let me have mine!"

The DVD dropped back into the bag, and Elefun turned the buggy back around towards the entrance to the store, ready to exit.

"So what all went on last night…after I left?"

Tenma skirted around the edge of the buggy, and past a couple of people entering the store and walked out, Elefun close behind.

"You heard most of it. You stuffed yourself in through the basement window and laid in wait on the steps remember?"

"Yes! And if I'd known the—the _horrors_ you keep down there I'd have just waited until that woman's car pulled off!"

"I don't know why you felt you had to sneak in anyway Elefun. I'm pretty sure she knew we were staying with you. If not at your home, then somewhere. They'd been trying to call you too, after all. That, and you pretty much gave yourself away when you gasped out loud at Astro's insistence you be made Vice Minister of Science."

"I was trying to make sure nothing out of the way happened! For all I know the whole thing could've been a set up and she could've brought fifty policemen with her to arrest you—or worse! They might've tried to get at Astro! You remember how many crazy people out there kept trying to steal his blue prints after you finished him! Drake-Dr. Mini-Mini—and _god knows_ who all else we had to beat off last year! Metro City's government has never been anything short of shady, and corrupt! How do you trust someone with a history like that?"

Tenma snorted. "_You_ were trying to make sure nothing _out of the way_ happened to _us_? You're in your late fifties Elefun!"

"In my fifties or not-Metro City has a shady past! Remember that whole thing about Stone-?"

"I know Elefun. _But_-and this going to sound completely cliché, and hypocritical coming from me- but Metro City isn't under the same management it was before. I read up on Emily Niele, and President Logan."

"And you found out?"

"Apparently they really are the total and complete Party opposite's-and I don't just mean that whole dried up 'Democrats against Republicans' thing either."

"You mean they don't take sides? They're independent's?"

"Mhm. Unusual isn't it?"

"Well…people had to get tired of the 'George Bush' and 'Sarah Palin' jokes eventually—but on a serious note Tenma… what all did you and Astro talk about last night? Is everything alright? It was tense this morning.."

Dr. Elefun pushed the floating shopping cart forward as his feet came to the bottom of the escalator, and hurried to catch up with his fast walking colleague, his chest heaving with the effort.

Tenma stopped abruptly in front of the advertisement stands by the doors he'd soon be exiting from, and looked up, his dark, navy blue eyes reflecting the large puffy clouds that could be seen floating by through the clear glass ceiling of Metro City Mall. If it wasn't for what he was thinking of at that moment, he'd have smiled and said having a big, open, glass ceiling made for a much more pleasant, and open environment. Lord knows it had helped brighten up Elefun's drearily decorated apartment.

"We're..managing. We talked for a long while after you left."

Tenma continued walking, and exited through the sliding doors, Dr. Elefun puffing along behind him.

"What all did he tell you?"

Curiosity, mixed with friendly concern shown on J. Elefun's pale, slightly wrinkled face. He had called Ramsey early that morning to tell him that Astro and Tenma would not be having a session that day, due to want, and need of new clothing on both their parts, but the scene in Tenma's kitchen this morning had worried him, making him think perhaps it might be a good idea to call and have the grizzled old psychologist over for a night visit. He looked around once they got outside. The parking lot was full of people, and not just the average shopper either. Tons of Outland refugee's had set up shop here almost as soon repairs were finished, as it was made clear that no vacant home's, or apartment's would be sold to them. It was reminiscent of what you saw in the old days in Romani-Gypsy camps, except with outdated old zip cars in the places of covered wagons. People with their laundry hung willy-nilly, white tent tops sprouting up every now and again, and children and adult's alike running around in strange, brightly colored clothing and speaking a form of English that was littered with profanity and slang words.

"I'll explain later tonight, if you decide to stay for dinner."

"You haven't fixed Nora yet..who's cooking?"

"Astro is."

"He can cook?"

"Yes….it was a surprise to me too. After you left last night, I tried cooking myself something…and well..you know what I'm like in the kitchen."

"Where would he have picked it up from?"

"He told me he picked it up while we were living in that tent in the Outlands before we came to stay with you. I don't believe him though."

"Why not? Toby's always been a smart boy.."

"He chews his lip when he lies, plus he never stayed gone long enough when we were out there to learn to cook from anyone."

Astro was sitting on top of his father's car with is knees hugged to him, looking out over the massive expanse of tents and people. Everything had happened really fast over the past couple of days. Not only did he and his father get to move back into their house in a single swoop, but within hours of having talked to that blonde lady, a tow trucker had come knocking on their front door with his dad's sleek, black, Rolls Royce Ghost hanging behind him. On top of all that, Metro City Federal Credit Union called early that morning and given his father a statement of his bank account, prompting the afternoon shopping excursion, and the throwing away of all their old, worn out clothing. Astro's frayed, dirty t-shirts, busted tennis shoes, and ratty jeans had all been traded in for much nicer, and more durable clothing. He glanced down at his new boots, and smiled. They were black with blue flames on the toe, and when he'd picked them out he'd immediately felt rather conceited and embarrassed when asked by his father why he'd picked them.

"_Because the flames are blue like my…core."_

"_And your favorite color is blue because your core is blue?...Almost all of the shirts you've picked out are blue son.."_

"_No…it's dumb. Forget it. I just like blue."_

"_**Why**__ do you like blue?"_

"_Just because!"_

"_Because __**why?**__"_

"_Because Dr. Elefun told me you put the core in me because it would make me perfect..like…you thought I was."_

"…_.."_

"_What?"_

"_Put the shoes on the counter son."_

"_What? I hate it when you don't say anything! You promised you'd stop being a stingy dick with all the emotional stuff! Say something!"_

"_There's nothing __**to **__say! And don't swear at me!"_

"_**What**__ dad?"_

"_You __**are**__ perfect! That's __**what**__! Now put the damn boots on the counter!"_

Astro laughed. He didn't know anyone that had a bigger problem with expressing their emotions than his father. He knew about all the stereotypes out there that said a man had to be 'hard' and 'unyielding' and brave and everything….but after giving it a lot of thought after their first couple of sessions with Dr. Ramsey, Astro had decided, that after putting up with abuse from a robot slave-driver, the president, and in some less determined instances, his _own father_, he was _more_ than deserving of a few free 'Express How You Feel Without Being Called Gay' cards.

Astro turned around to the sound of Dr. Elefun, and his father arguing bitterly about something as they approached the car.

"He'll be _fourteen_ soon, Elefun! And then _fifteen_ after that! I want him to get as close to the human experience as possible!"

"But Tenma think about the publicity and scrutiny he'll be under in a few weeks!—You can't do something like _that_ while-!"

"I'm not stupid Elefun! I'd wait until after…and only if he felt he was ready and agreed to it!"

"What the hell even made you think of something like that in the _first_ place? He's too young to even be thinking about that sort of thing!"

"He's thinking about _girls_ Elefun! _That's_ what made me think of it!"

They were stopped behind the car now, and Tenma's hand was hovering over the latch to the trunk of the car. Astro slid off the top, not wanting to hear another word of what they were discussing, and got in the backseat of the car. He laid down and turned his face toward the backstay. If they were seriously talking about what he _thought _they were talking about, he was going to have to avoid his father at all costs when it came time for him to appear at President Logan's speech in a couple of weeks. Nope. No way was he going to talk about _that_ with his dad. _No. Way._

Astro put his hands over his face in embarrassment.

'_Why..__**why**__ did I have to tell him about Cora? __**God **__I'm stupid!'_

**Astro, Tenma, Elefun (Sunset)**

Astro opened the door to their large, walk-in freezer, and peered inside. Steak, Chicken, a few packs of frozen shrimp…and some ground beef. He reached up and grabbed a pack of boneless chicken and tossed it back on the counter next to the little can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken he'd already taken out. He could hear his father and Dr. Elefun in the living room whispering in order to keep him from hearing what they were talking about. Unfortunately though, not matter how low they tried to keep their voices, and no matter how low he turned down his sensitive hearing to try and be polite, he could almost always hear them, deadened and faraway though their voices sounded.

"_So…you were going to tell me what you and he talked about?"_

Astro heard the scrape of a match, and caught a whiff of something fragrant being lit up.

"_Yes."_

"_And..?"_

A quick, shaky, intake of breath from his father, and then a much calmer, slower, exhale. He'd just taken a draw from his pipe.

"_He told me…he told me what it is goes on when he has the lock-ups."_

Astro tore the plastic wrapping off the package and dumped the frozen hunks of boneless chicken into the cold water in the kitchen sink. He could the dull, far away sound of the springs in the couch groaning under Dr. Elefun as he shifted his weight on the couch. He really wished his hearing wasn't so sensitive. There was a cat prowling around in the bushes outside the kitchen window…he had already heard it crunch up several insects and a squeaking mouse.

"_What goes on?.."_

"_He says whenever he gets worried or stressed, something that happened to him from before…like a flashback happens…and he experiences it again…emotionally..I guess. And he just…freezes."_

Astro could hear the frown in Dr. Elefun's voice.

"_Stress from what? What does he see?"_

"_Stress from…me…everything that's happened…and worry about what all's going to happen in the future. It's a lot on him right now..and.."_

Another shaky intake of breath. Dr. Elefun pressed him further.

"_What is it Tenma?"_

"—_And I feel like I should have waited and talked to him first…before now. Before I agreed to negotiate anything with Emily."_

"_And what does he see?"_

"_He told me the last time he was remembering the day Stone brought him back to the Ministry to be deactivated. And the very first one he had…he was remembering the day that-that __**slave peddler**__ shocked him into unconsciousness after forcing him to battle all those robots and then threw him into an electric cage to spend the night in the rain."_

"_That—that's __**horrible**__!"_

Astro squinted and then unsquinted his eyes, trying to keep tears from coming, the particular memory his father just mentioned being a particularly painful one for him. He felt like he'd shed way to many tears lately. He was entitled to a good cry, he knew, but still, his face had started to itch lately from all of it, and he felt like a giant, robot, baby. He pinched his cheeks hard, took a deep breath, and then turned up the stove to get the oil in the frying pan going faster.

"_Yes. It is. And I fully intend to buy a box of paperclips and tend to this…__**Hamegg**__… as soon as I get the opportunity..but..then..."_

"_**Then**__ what? I say we get in the car right now and go and find that __**bastard**__!"_

Astro jumped as he heard Dr. Elefun's fat fist's collide with the coffee table in anger. It was surprising. He was normally so mild mannered and kindly.

"_I'm not totally innocent of anything either..maybe I should stick a couple of paperclips in __**my own**__ jugular."_

Dr. Elefun spluttered nervously, then spoke.

"_**You**__ only hit him with your __**hands**__ though Tenma. You didn't torture him and stick him in a cage!"_

"_No…I didn't do __**that**__..but I did shun him. I threw him out of our home..__**his**__ home. No, maybe I didn't torture him and put him in a cage, but I did hurt him severely emotionally. That lasts longer than anything physical anyone could do..I should know."_

"_What else did the two of you talk about?"_

Astro heard the clink of a bottle on glass, and knew Dr. Elefun was likely taking a calming swig of Brandy…or Gin…though he didn't see how calming alcohol could possibly be when it made you act like his dad did after three or four shots of it. Astro could vividly remember his father coming home from the Ministry Christmas Ball, drunk, when he seven years old, with a woman on each arm. The next morning he'd violently booted the women out of the house and then cried bitterly in the shower. Dr. Elefun had had to come over to make sure he got to school, _and _make sure his dad didn't miss any of his meetings and appointments. It seemed that had always been Dr. Elefun's lot in life. Being Astro's substitute dad when his own was too busy, taking care of his dad when he had a hang-over, and also being his father's source of entertainment in the absence of any of the other less fortunate at the Ministry.

"_He told me about some of his other experiences in the Outland's…and that even though he find's my fascination with tinkering with him irritating..he…he likes the changes I've made. And he understands why it is I'm poking at him all the time. This morning…was a product of me jumping the gun, and getting too..well…__**excited**__ I suppose."_

Astro put the first cut of boneless chicken into the sizzling oil in the frying pan, and thought back to what his father'd told him when he'd asked him why it was he felt like he needed to be 'fixed' all the time. Up until that last night, he'd thought the reason was because his father was generally not pleased with him the way he was, and wanted to make changes accordingly.

_**-Flashback-**_

"_Do you—do you do it because you're just not satisfied with the job you did?"_

_Silence. The only response he got was his father looking away from him toward the bedroom door, slumping his shoulders._

"_Am I still just—just a __**copy**__? A copy you feel like you have to get perfectly right?"_

_Still no response. He didn't turn around, and at the word 'copy' he visibly stiffened._

"_Who am I supposed to __**be**__? SAY SOMETHING!"_

_He saw his father's shoulder's lower further, and then smelled the faint, salty scent of tears on the air. Astro plowed on._

"_And did you have to give me an ultra-sensitive __**nose**__ too? Do you have any idea what it's like to be able to smell it when someone uses the bathroom from all the way down the hall with the door closed?- Are you gonna say __**anything**__?"_

_Astro waited, his fists clenched, eyes narrowed in indignation, and then finally, after a moment got a response._

"_I do it…to try to make you happy. And no. You're not just a copy I feel I've got to get right. You may not know me well enough as your father…which I'll admit is mostly my fault, but you __**should**__ know me well enough as a scientist to know that I don't make __**anything**__ I really care about shoddily."_

_Tenma turned back around and faced Astro, trying to squint away anymore tears working their way up. He continued._

"_As for who you are…you're whoever you want to be. You can be Tobio. You can be Astro. You can be both. If you want, you can even be Robot Jesus for all I give a damn!—Originally, I made you to be Toby, my son, and no matter what ,to me, you'll always be my son whether you choose to go by 'Bob' or 'Billy' or 'Joey-Bob' or whatever, and the sole reason I put so much into upgrading you is because I want you to have the option of being __**whatever**__, and __**whoever**__ you choose to be. Am I making any sense to you?"_

_Astro nodded._

"_And now __**I**__ have a question."_

"_Yeah?.."_

"_Who do __**you**__ want to be? Right at this moment?"_

_Astro looked around his semi-messy room, and at the dusty Egyptian cotton sheets on his bed. Then he looked out the two large windows, whose panes took up nearly all of the wall on the far side of his room. The trees outside were full of dry, brightly colored fall leaves scratching against his windows with each breeze. He looked back at his dad._

"_If I say I wanna be Toby, and apologize for making you show your feminine side, can I have a hug?"_

_Tenma smirked and bumped Astro with his elbow._

"_You tell Elefun I cried, and you're grounded indefinitely boy, and I mean it. Now come get your hug."_

_**-Flashback End-**_

Astro pulled the first piece of chicken out, placed it on a waiting plate and napkin, and then added the second piece to the hot frying pan. He looked over at the mixture of green beans and carrots he had boiling away in the pot on the other side of the stove. Just a few more minutes and they'd be done. He looked down at his stomach…or where it _would_ be if he actually had one, and sighed. It felt weird smelling food, and not being able to do much more than suck the flavor off of it…not that he really felt hunger anyway, but still. Hopefully, sometime in the future, rather than do what he had been talking to Dr. Elefun about doing at the mall, his dad would make him some kind of wacky, super-powered stomach instead, so he could devour all the mounds and mounds of goodness he longed to devour without ever having to worry about stomach aches. Astro laughed at the thought of himself gorging on tub after tub of Pumpkin Spice ice cream, and package after package of Oreo cookies.

"_Hush fat man! Don't make me whip my paperclips out and use them on you!"_

Astro laughed again, this time at the thought that had just crossed his mind about his dad. He'd put machine guns in his butt…given him arm cannons…lasers in his fingers..and rockets for legs. Not to mention X-Ray vision, and a host of other things. He threatened people with paperclips…wore mostly black clothes…and cursed and mumbled under his breath a lot. _And_ he smoked a pipe, and played the piano and the pipe organ. His father was a mad scientist that had a pention for always overdoing things, and Astro….both loved…and feared him. 'Feared', as is in he was afraid he'd invent something really crazy one day and kill himself in the process…and maybe even Dr. Elefun too..seeing as how he always seemed to get drug along for the ride.

He took the last piece of chicken out of the frying pan, and went to the cabinet to get out plates, and a couple of glasses for drinks, grinning at his revelation.

"Dad! Dr. Elefun! It's ready!"

They both shuffled in a moment later, and Astro, still grinning, handed them both their plates and drinks, set up on trays.

Tenma raised one, black eyebrow in question at his son's curious expression.

Astro looked back at him, still grinning and said, "You should seriously consider changing your name to Boris Karlov. It _so_ fits!"

Astro ran, laughing, out of the kitchen, leaving his father behind him looking confused. Dr. Elefun, who'd picked up the joke right away, chuckled and went back into the living room with his tray of food. He and Astro had watched their fair share of movie's together too, and Boris Karlov…was a perfect movie adaptation of Tenma. Black clothes, paperclips, and all.

**Cora**

_**-Dream-**_

_Cora covered Widget's ears. The little girl was looking up at her, her eyes as big as saucers, afraid of the noises she was hearing coming from outside behind the garage. Zane was sitting across from her, with Sludge sitting on his lap and Grace huddled up on the other side of him with his arm around her. All of them, Cora included, were mortified at the sounds they were hearing. Earlier that day, after having made the argument, that as a robot, Astro could not feel pain, Hamegg had entered him in the games….giving him a shock each time he'd refused to fight. Cora…hadn't said anything._

"_YA HUNGRY YA HUNK O' JUNK? YA WANT SOME OIILLL?"_

_There was splash, and Cora bit her trembling lip and hugged the now crying Widget closer to her. She could hear Astro giving a gargled response, and then Hamegg chiming in again with more insults…more profanity…and more electric shocks. More…very __**strong**__ electric shocks._

_When she'd found out Astro had been keeping it a secret from her and everyone else that he was a robot, she'd been angry at herself..angry at him for pretending to be her friend…angry because she'd started to __**like**__ him. She'd watched the crowds jeer and throw trash at him after the games, and watched fat old repairmen like Hamegg sidle up to him and whisper in his ear that they'd made a bundle betting on him, and that if Hamegg ever got stingy with the oil, or cheap with the repairs, he could come their way and they'd take care of him. She also saw when Astro had broken the chains placed on him by Hamegg, and pushed the gentle Zog off of Hamegg's truck to free him. Hamegg had been furious, and promised Astro a world of hurt when he got him back to the garage..and that's when he'd turned up the electrical power on his whip to max and knocked Astro out with one hit. Cora…still hadn't said anything._

_Widget buried her face into Cora's shirt, already wet with her tears._

"_Why doesn't he __**stop**__ Cora? Why doesn't he leave Astro __**alone**__?"_

_Cora shut her eyes tightly as another one of Astro's screams rang out._

_Zane echoed her sentiments, and pushed Sludge off of him. He looked at Cora, his muddy brown eyes filled with both anger, and consternation._

"_We gotta make him __**stop**__ Cora!"_

_Cora opened her eyes and looked back, confused. She didn't want to hear Astro screaming anymore. She didn't want to hear Hamegg cursing at him and abusing him anymore. But how was __**she**__ supposed to make it end? She who hadn't said not a single word since it started. How could she? Astro probably thought of her and the rest of them the same way he was thinking about Hamegg right now. Even if she were to run out there in the rain and clock Hamegg over the head with a tire iron like he deserved…how could she be sure he wouldn't stand up in righteous anger and blast her..or knock her head off or burn her to death with his rocket legs? Then..a thought came to her of something he'd said a long time ago._

'_**I wouldn't tell anyone..you can trust me, Cora.'**_

_Cora pushed Widget off her lap jumped off the bed, with Zane following behind her. She walked to the back garage door, and kicked it open with all the force she had, making it slam loudly on the metal siding. She stood on the little concrete stoop, Zane next to her and called out Hamegg's name._

_The fat, greasy, vulture turned around. His clothes were sticking to his rotund, sloppy body, from having been out in the rain so long. His beedy, black eyes met her large blue ones with a look of irritation in them._

"_WHAT?"_

_Cora looked down and saw Astro looking at her from on the floor of the cage he'd been forced into. His face was covered with thick, low grade oil, and there was steam rising off him from the number of times he'd been shocked. She took her eyes off him for a moment and looked back at Hamegg._

"_Um..aren't you gonna come eat?"_

_She felt Zane bristle with disappointment next to her. He had no doubt been expecting her to try and beat up Hamegg like she often threatened to do to a lot of the other kids their age living at the garage, but she didn't think charging at him would make him any less angry than he was, and anger, was the reason he was out in the rain relishing in the torture of a robot he said couldn't feel pain in the first place._

_Hamegg looked back down at Astro, scratching his belly, and then back at Cora. He began walking toward the garage, and Cora whispered to Zane to go get the food in her knapsack that she'd gotten from her mom's a couple of days ago. He ran back in, and once Hamegg sidled back in past her, Cora ran up to the cage, reached a hand in grabbed Astro's own, still steaming one._

"_I'm sorry Astro! I didn't know he would go this far—are you—are you okay?"_

_Astro blinked…his eyes flashing blue for a moment, then going back to chocolate brown. Cora could see herself and Zane, who was hovering behind her, reflected in them._

"_Would you believe me if I said no? Or do you think what Hamegg thinks?"_

_**-Dream End-**_

Cora sat up abruptly in bed and looked around her small room. She hugged her knees to her chest and laid her head down on the top of them. Where had that dream come from? Could you even really call it a dream seeing as how it had actually _happened_? Her clock read ten past ten in the morning. She waited a minute for her heart beat to slow down and then hopped out of bed, raking her fingers through her hair to make it lie down. She could hear the sound of food cooking in the kitchen, so she knew her mom was up already.

Cora walked over to her closet, opened the door, and dug around for her purple hoodie and the least holey, snuggest fitting pair of jeans she could find. Today was going to be her first day going out to look for Astro and creepy looking father. She looked out the window. It was drizzling slightly, and there was a bit of a haze over all the shabby and tarp covered sky scrapers being worked on in the distance. Hopefully it wouldn't be too chilly out. Cora pulled on a pair of socks, and then slipped on her jeans. She gave herself a once over in the mirror and decided the shirt she'd worn to bed would have to do, and then pulled her hoodie on over it.

'_Would you believe me if I said no? Or do you think what Hamegg thinks?'_

Cora shook her head vigorously. That whole night had been something she had been hoping she wouldn't ever have to witness again..and yet, here she had only a few minutes ago woken up from a dream heralding the entire horrible event all over again. Ever since she had been little and had confided in her mother about dreams, and nightmares she had especially, Demimia had always made her feel a little better about the monster's and eerie dark mist's in her dreams by telling her that a person seldom had dreams for no reason at all and that there was almost always something behind them. Cora frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror again, and scaled back over all the dreams she'd had about Astro these last months. The kissing. The heroic, and chivalrous gestures…the flowers and candy. The horseback riding, and the French lovey-dovey 'Lady and the Tramp Dinners'. She squinted, feeling her cheeks getting hot, and a blush creeping across her nose. It was all she could do to keep her lips from creeping up into a smile when she thought about all those cooking lessons she'd given him back at Hameggs. She'd had dreams about all those too. Those dreams she already knew were because of how she felt about him. She had finally admitted it to herself last night, that ever since they'd had that talk out on the car she'd liked him as a little more than just another one of the kids she looked after…and the fact that he was always catching her when she fell off of Zog, or slipping down piles of robot parts solidified in her mind that he wasn't anything like Zane. He was always watching. Alert, and dependable. Widget, Sludge and Grace liked playing with him, and he always bathed when Hamegg remembered to pay the water bill..though knowing now that he's a robot…Cora couldn't see why he'd felt the need. Yup. All of those first few dreams signified her..'_romantic_ _feelings'. _But what about this one? Why dream about the most sleepless, guilt filled night of her life? Astro had forgiven her for everything that happened that night…or at least he said he had. He wouldn't lie right? You can't fake a hug, and a _'I hope we can hang out again some day.'_ Can you?

Cora shook her head again, and turned and walked out of her tiny room. Astro wouldn't lie. He's too nice. Too forgiving. That dream didn't mean crap…and hopefully when she found him, she could take him to see all the other kids and then these weird dreams and awkward feelings would go away and they could just be friends and hang out like normal.

When she got into the kitchen, her mother was sliding a couple of sunny side up eggs onto a separate plate next to hers on the table, where sat another woman. A thin, pale, blonde woman with sharp blue eyes wearing a green jogging suit and tennis shoes. Her and her mother both looked over when Cora came in, and the blonde woman raised a hand, and thin, yellow eyebrows in greeting.

Cora tilted her head with a confused and surprised look on her face. "Uh..hi?"

Demimia walked back over to the stove and grabbed the still sizzling pan of bacon and then put a few pieces on the woman's plate.

"Thank you Ms. Robert's. I appreciate your hospitality."

Cora walked over to the table after being motioned over by her mother, and sat down. She had heard her mom open the door an hour or two before she woke up, but she'd thought it was just her going out to check the mail. She looked the woman over again. She had dark circles under her eyes which made them look much sharper than they had from farther away, and her blonde hair was swept up into a French-bun in the back.

"It's no trouble…this is my daughter Cora."

"I see…and she hasn't been in school since she was….?"

"She hasn't been since she was seven..but I've been home schooling her since then."

"Hm."

The woman smiled, and inadvertently, Cora smiled back. She looked at her mother for an answer as to why they were having such obviously unexpected company for breakfast, but Demimia frowned a little, and looked back over at the blonde woman, who had introduced herself to her a couple of hours ago as Emily Niele, Secretary of State to the President of Metro City.

Emily ate a few of pieces of the egg, and then stuck a couple of pieces of crunchy bacon in her mouth, savoring the flavor. She hadn't had much time for a real breakfast since she'd become temporary President in Rob's stead, and even now that he was beginning to be well again she still didn't even have enough time in the morning to slip on her professional clothes. Hence, the green jogging suit she was currently wearing with none too much pride or finesse. It was the only thing in her closet she could put on in under five minutes. Any longer than that and every one of Rob's appointed office assistants would bust down her door whether she was in the nude or not, and bombard her with questions about what to do about this, and what to do about that.

Emily put her fork down and looked back at Cora.

"You know Astro don't you?"

Cora looked at her mother again, and rather than being cool and aloof as she always was, or pointing her back in the direction of the woman that had asked her the question, Demimia was giving her a sharp look. A look a cat gives a cornered mouse. Cora chewed her bottom lip for a moment and then looked back at the blonde woman.

"Yes ma' am...?"

"He wants to see you. And the other children."

Cora's eye's grew wide and she snapped her head back in the direction of her mother, but Demimia still didn't say anything, or give her any clues as to what she was feeling either…other than the sharp, piercing stare she was giving her. The blonde lady kept on going.

"My name is Emily by the way. Excuse me for not introducing myself to you, but it's been a bit since I've had time for a home cooked meal."

Emily turned all the way around in her chair, facing Cora, and extended her hand for a hand shake, which Cora returned awkwardly, with a half happy half confused look on her face.

"A couple of days ago, I met Astro and his father and negotiated with the two of them for Astro's appearance at the President's next political speech. In exchange for that, he asked to see you, and the other children one day this week or the next at his house."

Cora nodded. "I was gonna—I was gonna go try to look for his house today! Or go to the Ministry and see if-!"

Emily waved her hand and shook her head. "Well, now you don't have to do any of that."

"How did you know how-?"

"To get to your house? Astro gave me all your names early this morning, and being a high powered government employee gives you access to things like that."

Emily stuck her hand in her jogging suit pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, and sat it on the kitchen table in front of Cora. She couldn't help but smile at the memory of the little robot teenager running around his untidy room trying to find pen and paper to write a note to this girl on. His father was a rude, preening, thirty-seven year old man who looked like he still shopped at Hottopic, but he was a brilliant engineer and scientist. Astro, being a robot..and being able to actually have 'crushes', couldn't have been anywhere near as simple as Tenma had said that it was. There was just no way. Her curiosity was aroused and she would definitely have to needle into him about it when he started back at the Ministry next week.

Cora took the paper and stuck it in her jacket pocket, hardly believing the curly handwriting on the top of it that said, _'From Astro'_.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think he wrote his phone number on it so you can let him know when it is you want to come."

Cora heard her mother mumble a curse word under her breath, as she rattled her fork around on her empty plate, pushing around food that was no longer there. Cora looked back at her, but Demimia kept her eyes down on her plate, and didn't look up again. Cora turned back to Emily, fighting the urge to gulp at the fearsome look on her mother's face. She had a feeling she knew exactly what it was she was angry about.

"Thank you for bringing me this…"

"It's not a problem. I have to keep up my end of the bargain, and…he's a nice kid. So I'm just going on ahead and giving him his just desserts while I've still got one or two hours of spare time in the day."

Cora nodded, and then watched her stuff the rest of the eggs and bacon into her mouth. She grimaced. Only a couple of hours of spare time a _day_? Being a 'high powered government employee' must suck. Suck _hard_.

Demimia said nothing until Emily finished, and Cora ran off to her room to read Astro's note after having thanked her for the second time, and saying goodbye. Her large, alert blue eyes followed Emily as she made her way out into the hall that led to the elevators and stairs with her brown, leather, fringe purse tucked under her arm.

"Ms. Neile?"

Emily turned around, her corn colored eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Ms. Roberts?"

"You're an independent right?"

"Yes..?"

"Do independents _always_ see both sides of an issue?"

Emily blinked, and then smiled.

"We try to. Why?"

"No reason. Thank you for stopping by. I was worried about letting her go today..out to look I mean."

"No problem at all Ms. Roberts."

Demimia closed the door and closed her eyes and waited for Emily's footsteps to die away, and the ding signaling the elevator opening up. When she heard it, she opened her eye's again, and turned toward the direction of Cora's room, and walked toward it, her nostrils aflare. She was going to try her best to see both sides of this 'robot crush' issue…but it was going to be difficult. _Very difficult._

**Astro and Dr. Tenma**

"_Herbert West_, Dad? From 'The Re-Animator?"

"Yes…fitting..don't you think? In a way at least?"

"Yeah…but hearing you say it…it makes you sound like you have a really inflated opinion of yourself."

"I do."

Astro rolled his eyes, and glanced back down at the piece of paper in front of him. He and his father were playing what Dr. Ramsey called, 'Me In A Movie' after hearing about their movie night at Dr. Elefun's. You wrote down the names of movie character's you most identified with, and then switched lists with the other person, letting them say what they thought about the choices you made. Astro frowned at his dad, after reading the next one on his list.

"_The Joker_? You can NOT be serious!"

Tenma looked down at Astro's list with a slightly offended, but amused look on his face and picked it up.

"Are _you _serious about _Edward Scissorhands_?"

"Yes!"

"Then I'm serious about the Joker!"

"But you're nothing like him! Herbert is at least a _scientist-_ but the Joker 's a lunatic! A crazy lunatic who wears make-up and stays perpetually drunk all the time!"

Tenma smiled and picked up the glass of amber colored liquid next to him, and took a sip. There was an open bottle of Jack Daniels in between them, and when Astro looked at it, his face fell, logic having been shattered.

"Okay-so you drink! But you've never done anything really cra-!"

Astro's face fell again. His father was pointing behind him at what he knew was a lumpy spot in the kitchen wall paper due to the shoddy plastering done by poor old Nora from four years ago. He'd come home from a meeting and for some odd reason had decided that it would be a good idea to mix up odd chemicals on the kitchen counter. They had of course exploded, blown out half the kitchen, and burned off his dad's eyebrows as well.

Astro sighed. "Okay…maybe there are _some_ similarities."

Tenma nodded and looked back at Astro's list, his black brows furrowing.

"Melanie Wilkes..Gone With The Wind?"

"Yeah?.."

"Hm. I can see that."

"You agree with me on that one?"

"Somewhat."

"Explain…?"

Tenma stared over the rim of his whiskey glass at his son, trying to keep his expression from looking too guilty.

"Do you remember…when you were five..and I read the book to you?"

Astro smiled. He definetly remembered that. They had stayed up for hours every night his father came home from work back then, when he wasn't too tired. Seeing him do Mammy's and Prissy's voices and the facial expressions that went along with them had frequently made him laugh until he'd nearly pee'd himself.

"I remember."

"The night of Ashley's birthday celebration when scandal broke out about him and Scarlett...do you remember what Rhett told Scarlett when he threw that low cut dress at her before dragging her into the party…and what Melanie did?"

"Yeah..he said something like, _"She loves you…let that be your cross."_ Then when she went to the party Melanie asked her to come in and help her receive the guests because she didn't believe what Ashley's sister and that Archie guy had said."

"You do it all the time."

"Do what?"

"What Melanie does. You're kind to people who don't deserve your kindness."

Astro attempted to pull his face into an expression that looked tough to try and rebuff his father's statement, but he waved his hand and took another sip of his drink.

"Don't try and argue. You know it's true."

"No it's not! I—"

"Hush boy! You're as sweet as sugar! Accept it, and look back at my list!"

Astro poked his bottom lip out in a comical, childish frown, huffed, and looked back down at his father's list.

"Sweeney Todd…I agree with that."

"Do you? Your turn to explain."

"I asked Dr. Elefun once…"

"Asked him what?"

"I asked him why you drink so much. He said it's because you're angry. And angry people drink because they're really hurt..or upset about something. Sweeney Todd was angry…and well…you know."

Tenma sat his drink down, and leaned forward on his elbows, smiling slightly, navy blue eyes flashing.

"You think I keep bodies in my bedroom closet?"

"No! I don't mean it like that! And besides…you _showed_ me what was in there already. Sweeney Todd murdered out of anger and revenge…but you…you..well.."

"What?"

"You handle your..anger..differently. You don't run around killing people…but you do really piss them off and hurt their feelings with the stuff you say and do..especially when you drink. And then when you don't drink..you try to…force your will on everyone…whether it's good for them or not. Like when you made Dr. Elefun go to tell Glaylock he was taking over for him when the Ministry opened back up. You _know _Dr. Elefun's shy about stuff like that, and he doesn't like hurting people's feelings!"

"Would you rather I'd have gone myself and upbraided him in front of his wife and told him what an incompetent, pompous ass I think he is?"

"No! But Dr. Elefun's like—like a Grandpa to me! You could be a little less of a douche to him sometimes if you tried."

"I'll consider it. Moving on."

"You're such a _douche_!"

"I love you too, Son. Moving _on_."

Tenma looked down at Astro's list again, for the last time, and then frowned. The last name on the list was one he hadn't been expecting at all. He looked back up at his son, smugness giving way to fatherly concern in his eyes.

"_Gregor Samsa_? From 'The Metamorphosis'?"

Astro stared down at his fingertips. "Yeah…you don't agree?"

"No…not at all."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not a _bug _! You're a person!"

"No one in Metro City's gonna _treat_ me like a person when they see me!"

"You don't know that. You haven't spoken to anyone other than me and Dr. Elefun for seven months, son."

"Yeah-but I know what their all gonna say! Their gonna say what everyone _always _says! Like all those people in the Outlands who recognized me after the battle! _'What a good robot!' _or _'Gee wiz! You're smart for a machine!' _or _'Dang! You sure did whup the hell outta Stone and that big ol' robot! What's it like not being able to feel it when ya get punched?' _People don't see a person when they look at me dad! They see a—a-!"

"Walking, talking, computer?"

Astro pulled his knees up to his chest, and then wrapping his arms around them to keep his balance in the dining chair, put his face into the top of them and squeezed his eyes shut.

"YOU'RE _NOT_ HELPING!"

Tenma sighed, and scooted his chair next to Astro's and put his arm around him. He sucked ass at having man-to-man talks…he always had, and after having explained the birds and the bees to Toby three years ago, he'd vowed he'd never attempt it again. Seeing as how he was upset though, he'd just have to suck it up and prepare to get 'sappy' to make him feel better. He didn't need to walk around feeling like he had the whole world was against him before he even went out into it. Being a smoker and a drinker…and certifiably insane according to Dr. Ramsey…he probably wasn't the best someone to try to curb his sons fears about the next following weeks…but he was at least going to make the attempt. Can't waste six months of therapy can you?

"I take it…you're worried you won't be received in a positive manner-or rather—the manner in which you _want_ to be received?"

"Yeah…and..and there's other stuff too and-!"

"Like what?"

"What's gonna happen after I do this? Will they expect me to start fighting crime and stuff? Going up against gangster's and crazy rogue robots?"

"Perhaps…but you know you don't _have _to do any of that, son. You didn't _have_ to fight Stone, and you didn't _have _to fight the Peacekeeper. You _chose_ to do those things."

"I know I did-but sometimes I wish…"

"Wish what?"

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't."

"Son?"

Astro sighed and looked up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you did it. All of it. I was finally able to really get the meaning out of what it was Rhett Butler told Scarlett when you flew into the Peacekeeper that day."

"What was it you got out of it?"

"I got out of it how much you really are a lot like Melanie Wilkes. Minus all the brave things she did in that book, she was an uncommonly kind and loving person..even to people around her she didn't have to be kind to. You saved an entire city full of people who until very recently, saw robots as nothing more than faceless, metal slaves to do their bidding. You kept a man who brutalized you from being crushed to death, and you even forgave me for all the wrong I did to you…though god knows why. When you left me for that brief moment for the second time…I remembered that saying, 'She loves you. Let that be your cross.' All the things that happened between you and I from the time you were young came back, and you, forgiving me for all my shortcomings, and never being able to redeem myself of any of them was my cross. And boy was it a heavy one."

Astro blinked, laid his head on his dad's shoulder and looked out the kitchen window at a little brown bird pecking at some leaves on the bushes outside. This was definitely a change from the 'birds and the bee's' fiasco of three years ago…or worse yet…the explanation he'd given him for why his dog, Jump, had had to be put in a pillowcase and buried in a hole in the back yard. He actually felt relieved, and a bit more optimistic. Those were two emotions he'd only ever experienced when talking to Dr. Elefun about these kinds of things. Dad had made progress, and who knows? He might be right! Maybe people would be able to see him as more than just a robot after all. Maybe they all already felt that way. He knew Cora and all the rest of his friends did. And if some of them people he was bound to be introduced to the day of the speech didn't, he was perfectly capable of showing them differently…right?

Tenma let out a breath he was holding in, and after a few more minutes, removed his arm from around Astro's shoulders.

"You have no idea how much effort that took! Coming up with all that kind of stuff is hard!"

Astro took his eyes back away from the kitchen widow, and laughed, hopping up off his chair.

"You think _anything _emotional is hard dad! Now whaddya wanna eat?"


	6. Chapter 6: Metal Head Through And Thro

(A/N: Okay guy's, here's Chapter Six. I know the book and movie references are getting old for some of ya. I can't help it though, being such a nerd. Plus, a lot of the movie's I mentioned in the past two chapter's really do remind me of some moment's that took place in all the different Astro Boy series, and the movie. And seeing as how I'm writing a side story about Dr. Tenma and Hoshie, I just had to throw in some other film stuff. Astro should know _something_ about his mother shouldn't he?)

**Chapter Six: Metal Head Through And Through**

**Tenma and Astro**

"Dad could you _please_…._please_ wear anything but _that_?"

Astro's shoulders slumped, as his chocolate brown eyes took in the tall, trim, cream-colored suit wearing figure in front of him. Cora, Zane, and the other kids were going to be inside his house in less than half an hour, and here his dad was, dressed to the nines in one of the six hundred and fifty dollar Armani suit's he'd bought on their shopping trip a week ago. He was even wearing a Gatsby Fedora Panama hat with blue banding to match.

Tenma folded his arms, and pulled his face into a look of mock offense at having had his oh-so snazzy attire referred to simply as '_that_'.

"You mean to say you don't like my classic three piece, butter cream suit that I picked out just for this occasion? I thought you'd _like_ the idea of having a well-dressed handsome man receive your friend's in our spit and polish foyer…hmmm?"

"Dad c'mon! You promised you'd just stay in your bedroom or watch a movie or-!"

"And _you_ promised you'd introduce me to your friends and not pretend you're a parentless waif did you not?"

"Well yeah, but if they come in and see you dressed like that they're gonna think I'm spoiled and…and _pampered!_"

"You _are_ spoiled and pampered son."

"I might be spoiled but I am _not_ pampered! And the spoiling part isn't my fault! You've been buying me butt-loads of stuff since before I could shake a rattle dad!"

"Yes! Yes I have!—And while you're blaming your inadequacies as a person on _my_ inadequacies as a parent-you _might _want to watch what Nora's doing with those finger sandwiches."

Astro turned around and looked at Nora, newly fixed, and hovering over the deep burgundy cherry wood dining table preparing the little platters of miniature sandwiches, and colorful array of fruit's and snack cakes. Nora had knocked over the jar of mayonnaise she had been using to lightly coat the small pieces of wheat bread in front of her, and there were thick gobs of it running down the leg of the table and down the bottom front of her chasse. She had steam coming out of her robotic ears expressing embarrassment at her bungle, and her round, shiny green eyes were looking at him apologetically. Astro turned back around and glared at his dad. All he'd wanted for everyone to eat was a big jug of Hawaiian Punch and two large pizzas's….maybe some nacho's and a box of Debbie cakes. Not a four course meal! One of the platter's actually had caviar on it for crying out loud!

"Dad it's not a fancy dinner party! I'm just having friends over!"

"And one of them happens to be a girl. A girl you like."

"_DO NOT_ use Cora as an excuse for all this! I just wanted pizza and punch!"

"Pizza and punch…hmm. Not real 'lady getters' from my experience. Unless you're shopping in a trailer park."

"Shut up dad—and go change! I'm getting rid of all this! I can't believe you're trying to make this suck for me after you promised!"

Astro hurried over to the table and waved the discomfited Nora away from the table while he picked up all the platters of finger foods, and began shoving them in the refrigerator.

Tenma leaned up against the stove and watched him. Ever since that girl.._Cora_ …had called the week before and said she and her other associate's would be coming to visit the following Friday, his son had been running around the house like a chicken with his head cut off putting away all the good china, the bear skin rug, and all manner of other luxuries' in the house, all to prepare for their…or rather _her _arrival. He had attempted to try to talk him out of it on several occasions…but Astro had avoided him like the plague every time he mentioned the girl's name or tried to give him advice about what to do to entertain his friends when they got there. It was likely due to the violent, three-day sickness he'd experienced after having given him all the gory details about child-labor during their 'where-do-babies-come-from' talk a few years ago. But he had a genuine understanding of what it was his son was going through at the moment that he really wanted to try to help him with..if he would ever stop running around and give him the opportunity.

Astro ran past his father over to the phone hanging on the opposite wall next to the kitchen door once he was done stuffing the unwanted fancy-foods away, and began dialing the number to the nearest non-peacekeeper destroyed Domino's Pizza, and without looking, stuck his arm out behind him and wiggled his fingers, signaling for his father to stick some form of currency in it. Be it credit card, or fat stack of bills. He bristled when he heard his dad laugh from behind him, and then stick his credit card in his outstretched hand. He looked back over his shoulder up at his father, bottom lip poked out and eyebrows knit together.

"You try _so hard_ to act unspoiled by the copious amount of money I've spent on you for most of your life, son. Why not just embrace and enjoy the wealth?"

"Leave me alone! And take off that stupid suit! You look like a pimp!"

"Love you too, Tobio."

When the receptionist picked up, Astro ordered two large pizzas. One with pepperoni and sausage, the other with everything on it, and then paid for it with the credit card. He handed it back to his dad after giving the three digit number on the back, and getting the total price.

Astro looked his dad's butter-cream colored suit, and panama fedora over again after turning around and sighed. Being wealthy presented way too many problems. For him anyway. It wasn't that he was totally averse to living in a big house, or having nice stuff…it was just that he didn't want Cora, and Zane and the other kids, his friends, to feel uncomfortable staying once they actually came in. He wasn't sure exactly what Cora's life was like, or how she lived, but he did know Zane and Grace and the twins had been in an Orphanage the past six months..and no one ever said anything good about any of the one's in the city. He was going to try to do his best to make sure his house didn't seem like somewhere else they felt out of place, and unwanted in. Whether his dad chose today to be in one of his 'eccentric-rich-guy' moods or not.

Astro looked up at his father imploringly.

"The suit dad…please?"

Nora floated over behind him, cleaning off her front with a couple of quilted napkins, looking at him just as imploringly as he was looking at his father for a new task to be given. Nora had been operational for three solid days now, and upon waking up, had been directed in what to do around the house solely by Astro..who at first…she hadn't recognized at all as the little boy she'd once taken care of at all…due to the lack of brain signals and high heat signatures she'd always associated with him. The only thing recognizable about 'Little Master Tenma' now, was his voice. Everything else, Nora noticed, upon doing the customary scan of him that all robots' do to seemingly foreign objects, and people…was like her…purely electronic.

"I'll take it off if you'll come up stairs with me and listen to what it is I have to say before your company arrives. And give Nora a little praise, and something else to do. She looks like she's about to die of idleness."

"If it's about _boy and girl stuff_ dad-I don't wanna hear it okay? I've got enough to deal with without you trying to-!"

Tenma waved a hand to silence him, taking in the expression on Astro's face. It was the same one he always had right before he went into one of his screaming, ranting tantrums. He shrugged off his suit jacket and nodded curtly towards the kitchen door. Astro poked out his bottom lip irritably and walked out, after pointing Nora in the direction of the freezer which still needed to have the newly bought meats within it organized. He headed for the staircase; Tenma rolling his eyes behind his back at how much Astro took after his mother when it came to throwing hissy fits over silly things.

Astro pushed open the Sumatran rosewood double doors to his father's bedroom, and went over and hopped on the California king size bed, rumpling the freshly laundered sheets and blanket. The house looked almost as good as it had before he and his father both, had left it, and it sat empty and derelict for seven months straight. Astro cringed and instinctively rubbed his hands over the jeans he was wearing. Never again would he attempt to do so much dusting all on his own. Almost an hour after starting, his father had needed to go outside to get air because of the havoc the dust had begun to wreak on his allergies. At one point he'd sneezed so hard there'd been a bit of blood in his mucous, which, after about thirty minutes of trying to 'tough it out' had turned into a full blown nose bleed with watery, itchy eyes to go with it. It ended up with him finishing all the dusting by himself, and his dad outside stretched over the hood of his Rolls Royce with a big wet towel over his face to keep out any dust that floated to him from the inside of the house.

"What?"

Tenma strode in and tossed his suit jacket and vest on the bed next to his son and went into his closet to get one of his less ornate, cooler in color, sweater vest's to wear over his dress shirt.

"Why not put the bear skin rug and piano back son?"

"I don't want my friends to come over and be freaked out."

"You don't think the name of our neighborhood is enough of a give-away? _'Green Acres'_ ?"

Tenma pulled his deep purple sweater vest on over his shirt, and raked his fingers through his hair to neaten it, and then shrugged out of his pants, and tossed them out of the closet. Astro caught them and draped them over the headboard along with everything else.

"Yeah..but still…we don't have to be as showy looking on the inside as everybody else is around here. I want them to want to come over more than just the one time."

"And you think they won't want to if they find out you've got money?"

"Nobody really wanted to be friends with me back when I was at school, save for one. Especially after show-and-tell."

"You went to a private school. Rich kids get sent to private schools, and everyone in the class hates the richest one out of the bunch because he gets the best of everything."

Astro frowned, and glared at his dad when he came out of the closet, tightening his belt.

"What're you trying to say dad?"

"I'm trying to tell you that if these kids are really your friend's they aren't going to care whether you live in a lean-to, or a mansion. They're coming to see you because you're their friend, and they like you. Not to make their final judgment on you based on what kind of life you lead…or at least that's why they _should _be coming over. Who knows? They might be impressed rather than uncomfortable or resentful as _you_ seem to think they might be."

Astro tried as hard as he could to maintain eye contact with his father, but he found it just as hard as Dr. Elefun did. They were such a dark blue, they almost seemed black at the right angle…and it didn't help that he was just standing in front of the closet…barely blinking….in sort of a slouchy position looking like a serial killer in gentleman's lounge-wear. It was weird.

"I get what you mean. And you're right…they'll know anyway-and if they're my friend's they won't care-but I still wanna leave everything put up. At least this first time. I don't want them to be…like…"

"Overwhelmed by our fabulously decorated house and expensive possessions?"

"Uh….yeah."

"Alright then…but Toby?"

"Yeah dad?"

"I'd at least put out the fruit salad and cake's Nora made up."

"I really don't-."

"Trust me, son. Put them out."

"Why?"

"Because I've got twenty-seven year's more experience with women than you do. Put them out."

Astro snapped his head back up to look at his dad who was now standing over him next to the bed with his arms folded, trademark smirk in place. Astro's face screwed up in utter shock, confusion, and embarrassment. He had no idea how to respond to a comment like that. Not that it really warranted a response anyway, but still. He should never have said anything to his dad about Cora. Every time he opened his mouth about anything concerning her or his other friend's…his dad made him regret it by making remarks like that. And what did a man who spent most of his time absorbed in robotics, and trying to appear as emotionally detached from everything as possible know about girls anyway? The only thing female he knew for certain his father had ever associated with outside of his mother was women he used to bring home from long, drunken nights out at the bar, and the Gentlemen's Club with some other men from the Ministry. He had heard Dr. Elefun yelling at him about consorting with 'loose women' and 'the dregs from the Biology Department' on more than one occasion when he'd come to rouse him from his heavy, alcohol induced, coma-like snoozing in various rooms all over the house when he was too drunk to make it up the stairs to his room.

Astro pushed himself off the bed, and fixed his facial expression. He walked out of the room without saying a word...a deep, eerie chuckle from his dad following him on his way out. No one could possibly have a more complicated man for a father. He was absolutely sure of it.

**Astro and Cora**

"Hm…his father must be one of the ones at the very top."

Cora stared out the foggy window of her mother's pick-up truck at literally the biggest house she had ever seen in her entire life.

"Yeah…he must be."

She swallowed and looked down at her beat-up, raggedy old pair of vans. She'd had these same shoes since she was twelve. She'd had the hunter green sweater, and the ratty jeans she was wearing since she was twelve too. And there Astro was…standing on the porch waiting for her to get out, wearing a pair of what looked like Doc Martens with blue flames on the toe…and all new clothes. There was a rule about not letting a guy you liked see you in ugly clothes in a magazine she had read after talking to her mother last week, and now that she was in the same position she understood why. The nice clothes were more for the girl than the guy. They helped boost confidence..and she had very little confidence noting the huge gap between her's and Astro's lifestyles.

Demimia nudged her, and she looked up into her mother's face, everything she was thinking evident in her expression.

"Mom…my clothes suck."

Demimia rolled her eyes. "Don't start this Cora. Get out and go see your robot boyfriend."

"He's _not_ my boyfriend! And quit reminding me about him being a robot!"

"Quit being silly and get out of my truck. Your clothes are fine."

"What should I say?"

"You say hello, and thanks for having me over. Now get out. He'll walk over here to see what's wrong and then you'll be _really_ embarrassed about your old, dirty shoes."

Cora nodded and pulled on the latch to open the door, chewing her lip and dragging her little canvas bag behind her. She watched her mom pull out of the driveway after closing the door back, and the trudged up the little earthen pathway that lead up to Astro's porch. Glancing up, she noticed a couple of other things about the house that she hadn't when they'd first pulled up. It wasn't anything like most houses or apartments in Metro City. And it wasn't just the sheer size of it either.

It looked a lot like one those big Victorian mansions you saw in paintings at the museum. With the wrap around porches, gas lamps on either side illuminating the front door, and the high windows with deep burgundy floor length curtains hanging from them. There were a lot of trees and bushes in the yard too. She had heard her mom say to some of her co-worker's on several occasions that real estate in Metro City that hadn't had a whole lot of its original foliage cut away was supposed to be outrageously expensive and rare, and seeing as how it prided itself on being one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world they had to keep bull dozing everything over to make room for new building's and manufacturing companies. It kind of made her wonder what they'd do to the Outland's after everything else was fixed up, what with all the extra potential building space out there.

Astro pulled the front door shut behind him, making sure his dad didn't come out too early and embarrass him, and met Cora half-way. She looked a lot different from the last time he'd seen her…and she was wearing a green sweater. He'd always thought she looked nice in green. Purple too…and blue. And pink. Any color really.

"Hey Cora!"

"Hey…long time no see."

Demimia was right. She _did_ feel more embarrassed about her old dirty shoes now she was up close to him. She fought it off though, and held out her arms for a friendly hug. She was offended when he didn't take her up on her offer, and looked back toward the door like he'd just heard someone shuffling around behind it.

"What is it?"

"Um…nothing. Do you wanna sit out here on the porch until Zane and everybody else gets here? I mean if you're not too cold already or anything.."

Cora frowned and looked back toward the door…then at one of the curtains in the window which had just swished closed. It was chilly out, being fall, but it wasn't unbearable..and Astro looked like he really didn't particularly want to go in right then. He hadn't said much about his dad over the phone when she'd asked him….maybe he was really excessively creepy and weird and Astro was embarrassed or scared of him or something. He'd looked creepy and weird the day he'd walked off dragging Astro behind him after the fight with Stone.

"Yeah sure…you've got a nice yard. Why not?", she said shrugging, and then followed him over to the white, hanging porch swing and sat down on it. She didn't notice the big, puffy, blue and white pillows arranged on it until she felt the coolness from them underneath her legs.

Astro leaned back into the back of the swing and kicked his feet lightly, staring down at the grooves in the wood of the deck, trying to think of something to talk about. He didn't have to think about it too long though. Cora had been thinking of a ton of question's the week prior that she'd wanted to ask him when she saw him again, and the question she asked first made him forget all about the light, airy foot-steps of his father behind the curtained window's that his sensitive hearing was picking up.

"So...this is gonna sound really weird…and you don't have to answer if you don't want to…but…do robots have their own porn? Like on Futurama? And femme-bot hooker's?"

Astro's head shot up immediately, and his jaw dropped in shock.

Cora held up both her hands, an apologetic look on her face.

"You totally don't have to answer that if you don't want to!"

"Out of all the stuff we could be talking about after not getting to hang-out for so long-you ask about _that_?"

"I'm sorry! I've just been watching a lot of 'Roboty-stuff' lately—and I wanted to know if there was really stuff like that!"

Astro stared at her. There was no way that could have been a serious question. There was just no way. _Robot porn_? He had never even watched regular porn for crying out loud! And _robot hooker's_?

Cora waved her hand's frantically. "Okay—okay! You don't hafta stare like that! Forget that one! You ask _me _something, and I'll think of a better question!"

Astro shook his head and laughed, then brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them in his favorite sitting position.

"Mine question is simple. And it doesn't have anything to do with _porn_ or robot hookers."

Cora rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "What is it Rocket Man?"

"How have you been?"

"Fine. Mostly anyway. It took me a while to find out where Zane and the kids were."

"Oh…where'd you find them?"

"At this Orphanage for kid's called St. Elmo Mc" Guire's. They left the place they were originally for there."

"And it's a good one? My dad told me a lot of the orphanages in the city aren't particularly good ones…"

"Well…Zane says it's a lot better than where they were before. We talk on the phone a lot….so I can always keep tabs on them all. I'm pretty sure he'll say something if it ever turns into a child labor camp like the last one he was at."

Astro nodded and rested his chin on the top of his knees, looking at a strand of Cora's hair on the top of her head that was blowing in the wind. It was good to know Zane, and the younger kids especially…were somewhere where they were being taken care of. Maybe Grace would forget having given him the nickname 'Tootsie Roller of Doom' because of the damage she'd seen him do the Peacekeeper's left eye during the battle.

He heard the foot-steps and the faint swoosh of the curtain being pulled back again and narrowed his eyes. He'd put machine guns in his butt…tortured him for a whole week about adding various other hilarious and un-needed weapons and now he was spying on him through the curtains like some nosy old-lady neighbor. Was this how Dr. Elefun felt on a daily basis dealing with his dad 24/7 at the Ministry?

"How have _you_ been, Wonderboy? You look…kinda different. What happened to your little red bootie thingies?"

Astro snapped out of his reverie, and forced his super hearing as far down as it would go. His father was a monumental, class A, asshole for doing this to him. Maybe he'd stop…maybe that was the last time he'd hear the curtains move. Maybe…just _maybe_.

"My uh…dad made some changes. I don't have to wear them anymore. I can wear any pair of shoes I want to as long as I remember to get em' off before I fly."

"Cool. What about those..um..black speedo things you wear?"

Astro smiled. "What about them?"

"I mean…are they..like, _glued on_ or something?"

Astro's eye's narrowed again and his smile faded. Cora held up her hands again in apology thinking she'd asked too personal a question for the second time around, but Astro didn't say anything about it. He just sat looking back behind him at the window like he wanted to punch the shit out of it.

Astro looked away from the curtained window and back over at Cora. He may as well get it over with now, before his dad-no—_Dr. Tenma_—came out smoking one of his Turkish cigars pretending like he was surprised to find they had company, and then saying something completely horrible that would mortify and embarrass him. GOD! Why had the lord cursed him with an eccentric, moody, insane middle-aged man for a father? Why couldn't Dr. Elefun be here to preoccupy him with something?

"Do you wanna meet my dad?"

Cora blinked, and nodded.

"Uh..yeah..sure…but..are you okay? You look kinda mad. Is your dad the one messing with the curtains?"

Astro sighed, and nodded, standing up off the swing. "Yeah. I told him I'd introduce him to you and everybody else when you got here. He's…getting kinda impatient I guess. It's probably best anyway..it's a little windy out and I don't want you to like…freeze or anything cuz I kept you out here talking too long. There's some snacks in the kitchen we could get out afterward, too."

"Okay. Cool."

Cora stood up, and followed him to the front door, which he didn't even have to twist the door knob on due to it already being cracked open. She snickered at the infuriated look on his face when he pushed it open with his bottom lip stuck out like a five year old. The only time she had ever seen him look like that, was the time Zane had given him a wedgie during one of their trips out looking for robot parts. Other than that, and a couple of their back and forths over who had better taste in music, Astro almost never got angry. It was interesting to see what it looked like on him. And it was going to be especially interesting seeing what his father looked like up close…and at the inside of his Hugh Hefner lookin' house, too.

Astro stepped in over the threshold, and Cora looked around after shutting the door behind her. It looked….really empty… save for the gilded mirror's and paintings on the wall in the little room they were standing in. She followed him through the archway into the next room, taking in the marble flooring and minimal amount of decoration. A tall, black haired man, Astro's dad, was wearing a dark purple sweater vest and was puffing away on what looked like an old fashioned tobacco pipe, sitting in a big leather arm chair mumbling something to the pink house service robot hovering next to him. Cora stopped and waited where she was by the arm of a large red, velvet couch while Astro went round it,and the coffee table over to where his he was reclining.

"Cora's here dad."

The man's eye's popped open in what looked like an almost purposefully comical attempt at pretending to be surprised, and looked past Astro over at her. Cora lifted a hand and waved timidly. He had scary looking eyes. They looked like black holes. He didn't look anything like Astro; accept for the dark, wavy hair. He was kind of tan too. Like one step away from being Jersey Shore tan. And that goatee thing made him look a lot like Dick Dastardly from that old Wacky Racer's cartoon.

"So that's Cora then? Hello from way on the other side of the living room Cora! I've heard _so_ much about you!"

Astro looked over his shoulder and motioned for her to come over to where he was. She walked over, trying not to let on how completely creeped out she was by his dad. It was ten times worse up close. Up close he looked like Jersey Shore _Dracula_.

"Hi. Nice to meet you Mr..um?"

"Tenma."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Tenma…sir."

He smirked, and Cora, looked over at Astro to try to look for any queue's as to what she should say next. He didn't offer one. He just looked back at her with a severely apologetic look on his face.

"Nice to meet you too, Cora. Astro tells me you enjoy listening to metal. That true?"

"Um..Yes?"

"Hm. Tell me…do you think you'll _always_ be a metal fan?"

Astro spoke up, and the horrified look on his face made Cora even more uncomfortable.

"Me and Cora are gonna go up to my room now and play some video games dad-if that's okay?"

"Certainly…but let her answer. Do you think you'll _always_ like metal Cora?"

His right eyebrow rose up slowly on the word 'always' and Cora looked over to Astro again for what to do. But he just looked back at her again, half apologetic, half horrified about something his dad was saying but that she wasn't getting. She looked back and forth between the two, trying to get Astro to give her some kind of hint, and let him know she didn't know what in the Sam Hill was being said here! He looked down at his feet , and Cora gave up. Hopefully… just maybe he wasn't asking her some kind of weird, deranged question, and trying to cover it up by asking her about her favorite genre of music.

"Yes sir. I'm pretty sure I'll always like metal."

"Excellent. You can both run a long now. Nice meeting you again, Cora."

He smiled, leaned further back into his chair, and lazily tapped out the tobacco residue in his pipe onto the end table next to him, letting the house service bot sweep it off into her little dustpan. Cora looked over at Astro again, and this time he was glaring openly at his dad. They exchanged looks with one another. Astro's expression one of indignation, and ''s' one of contentment mixed in with a tinge of mischievousness. Cora frowned. She was almost sure that if she knew what all was going on here she would be pissed too, but all she could do was just stand and be confused. Like Zane in a room full of books with no pictures…love him like a brother though she did.

(A/N: Okay…sorry about this one being so short and taking so long, but I just _had_ to have Cora get a taste of the 'Dark Side' of Tenma before moving on into the whole reunion with Astro and all his other friends. Plus, I thought it'd be a good idea for Astro to get to be by himself with Cora before everyone else showed up. Anybody wanna take a guess as to what good ole' Doc Tenma was talking about when he asked her if she'd always be a metal fan? LOL.)


	7. Chapter 7: Astro Boy

((A/N: Hey everybody. Sorry it took me so long to finally update. Been busy with college and whatnot. Here's chapter seven for your viewing pleasure! Getting close to the end now people. Glad you've all enjoyed it thus far and I thank you for your kind reviews!))

**Chapter Seven: Astro Boy**

"….."

"Umm…if all this makes you guy's uncomfortable we can-."

Four pairs of legs all ran past him simultaneously, headed straight for the two vintage pin-ball machines on the other side of his room, pushing one another out of the way when they got to them in a quick bid over who would get to play first. Cora laughed and nudged a fidgety, nervous Astro with her elbow.

"See? I _told_ you! The kids are too little to care how loaded you are, and Zane was pretty much banking on it so he could come over here and rifle through all your rich boy crap and bum money off you for his stupid Magic The Gathering collection!"

Zane looked back over his shoulder, pointer fingers already going a mile a minute on the pin-ball machine, and gave Cora a look. Grace, Widget and Sludge were over in the corner, having already lost interest in the flashing lights and sounds of the machine, head first in an old toy chest of his with their short, tanned, chunky little legs waggling around wildly behind them.

"Magic The Gathering is _not_ stupid! It takes strategy, and planning, and good organizational skills to get really good at it!"

"None of which you have! And besides Zane-you found your first card in a dumpster like two years ago at Hamegg's, and since then you've only ever had enough money in your pocket to buy _one_ starter pack! Who do you know that even _plays_ it anyway?"

Zane turned back to the pin-ball machine.

"Whatever. Fuck you dude. At least I _have_ a hobby."

Astro looked over at Cora who rolled her eyes, and then went over to her seat in front of his computer where they'd been sitting together for all of about forty-five minutes before Zane and the other kids had arrived, watching online videos and discussing their musical interests. It really hadn't been how he'd planned to spend the beginning of this day at all. In his room where everyone could visibly see how full the Tenma family coffers were. He had originally just wanted to have everyone sit around in the living room in front of the flat screen T.V to watch some movie's and eat a few slices of pizza. Unfortunately however…that dream flew out the window when his father had decided he was going to start the day off by saying creepily suggestive things to Cora almost as soon as she'd walked in the door. It had been cryptic enough that she hadn't understood exactly what it was he was trying to say, but still! Why couldn't he act like a normal parent? A parent who went to work, came home, and totally ignored his son when he had company over for fear of having the sudden knowledge of how old he was creep up on him?

"You gonna show me that Eraser Head video or not?"

"Yeah sure. Pull up YouTube. I'm gonna warn you though…it's pretty gross. You might wanna make sure you're done with your pizza and punch before I start the video."

Cora stuffed the remains of her pizza in her mouth, and fumbled around for the mouse. Astro laughed, walking the remaining few steps over, and sat down next to her in front of his little steel desk in one of the glossy, cherry wood dining chairs he'd brought up from the kitchen for an extra seat. Cora's eyes were bulging comically, and tearing up from the effort of trying to chew more food than her mouth could hold. It was a wonder she was actually able to type the web address in correctly.

"Shwash shthe shname of it?"

"Swallow! You look like one of those weird goggle eyed fish things we saw on that 'Freakiest Sea Creatures' documentary on Metacafe!"

Cora gave him a sassy look, making her eyes to bug out even more and Astro regretted instantly having pushed her into swallowing the wad of saliva coated pizza dough mashed in between her cheeks. The slow, moist, squelching noise it made when she did as he asked made him very _very_ glad he didn't have a stomach or respond with any of the customary human responses one usually had when presented with the sounds of food sliding down someone's esophogaous. No more experimenting with the ultra-sensitive hearing. The ultra-sensitive sense of smell either for that matter. It seemed like every time he tried using it somebody always knew and broke wind right next to him. Ugh.

"There. Better?"

Astro nodded, and pulled over the keyboard and typed in the name of the video. 'Eraser Head: Monster Baby Death Scene.'*

Cora scooted up closer to the desk and bumped him with her elbow, blowing a strand of pink hair out from between her eyes. "So what's so gross about this _Eraser Head _thing?"

Insert blush. Oh wait..no blood. Just water circulating through him occasionally to keep him from over-heating. "Um…you'll see. Just watch when I press play."

"I just ate though. And you said it made your dad and that old fat guy throw up."

Astro clicked the little square play button on the video and turned to frown at her, his bottom lip stuck out childishly. "_Chubby_. Not fat. And YOU were the one that said you had 'guts of steel' remember?"

"Yeah-but if it's that bad I don't wanna risk blowing chunks all over everything. And don't look at me like that! You look like Zane that time he dropped that whole bag of Tootsie-pop's he'd spent his wages on in the toilet."

"Don't call Dr. Elefun fat! He's been with me and my dad since I was a baby."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Sensitive! I'll be sure to use _your_ word for it next time. Now tell me about the video!"

"Just watch and see. I figured since you didn't throw up and start convulsing when I Rick Rolled you, you could handle this."

Astro smiled. Cora smiled back, and they both turned back toward the computer screen where four minutes and two seconds of black and white weirdness was playing out in front of them.

In the background, Zane's fingers were still tapping away on the sides of the pinball machine, and the twins were fighting over an old 'Bop It' they'd found in the toy chest whose batteries you could tell were fading due to the slow, crackling sounds it made each time they pulled, pressed and twisted any of its buttons and nobs. Grace, picked up another slice of pizza out of the box resting a top the end table next to Astro's bed, and wandered over to see what it was he and Cora were watching on the computer screen that had the normally very composed robotic teenager trying to shove a tiny plastic trash can between her best friend and the desk top.

"In there! Do it in there! Anywhere but my computer!"

Grace's jaw dropped and the greasy slice of sausage and pepperoni pizza slipped out her hand. What was it? What the hell was it? Why was its neck stretched out like that? Why was it throwing up on the wall? Who's that man standing away from it with the weird hair?

Cora let go in the trash can. Never had she seen anything so weird, and odd..and just plain _disgusting_ in her entire life. If Astro had actually sat and watched this movie all the way through..even _after_ this part…then he obviously had monumentally bad taste in movies. Good god!

Astro sat and waited for her to finish after clicking off the video. He felt horrible. He hadn't actually thought that she would throw up. Nor had he anticipated Grace wandering over and seeing. She was standing stock stick behind Cora with the pizza she'd had in her hand slopped over the little black mary-janes she'd gotten from the orphanage she and the others stayed at, the sauce oozing it's way on down into her baggy dress socks. The outfit didn't suit her personality at all. Nor did the look of utter shock and bewilderment on her face. Then again…it was _Eraser Head._ Everyone looked like that after watching it. Even when it was just a four minute long segment.

Zane's large, tanned ear's, picked up the sound of bile hitting plastic and looked over as well.

"Dude!"

The twins stopped arguing and looked up from their spot next to the toy chest, and their expressions changed to mimic the rest of the group's.

Cora stopped puking a second later and looked up from the bucket, glaring at him, with a trail of orangeish-green colored spittle hanging from her top lip. A sour smell rose up out of the can and wafted over in Astro's direction. He tried his hardest to not scrunch up his face at it and keep up his apologetic look.

"Cora…I'm really…._REALLY_.._REALLY_ sorry!"

She sat the can down on the floor between them, and looked back up at him. Her face had turned chalky white and, tiny little beads of perspiration were beginning to show up on her forehead. A few strands of pink hair cascaded down to cling to them haphazardly. Why oh why had he thought showing that video would be a good idea? She looked so _bad_! He stood up immediately and offered her his hand.

"Let me get you some napkins and something to rinse the taste out with! Come on! I'll take you to the bathroom and get Nora to-!"

"Astro?"

"Yeah? Just name it! I'll get you anything!"

Cora grinned.

"Have you seen the 'Two Girl's One Cup' video yet?"

**Tenma and Elefun**

"_**Do you think he'll ever come back for me Colum?"**_

"_**Yes, Katie Scarlett…but when he does, you must be generous to him, for he will be battle sore."**_

"Master Tenma? A Doctor Pakadermis J. Elefun in to see you…"

"Yes Nora. Open the door and let him in."

The sputtering, airy sound of Nora's hover jets blowing across the floor sent the hairs on the arms of Dr. Tenma prickling upward, and without thinking, his thumb flew instantly to the volume button on the remote to the T.V. He'd been sitting in his office watching mediocre period dramas ever since that lanky tan boy and the little ones had arrived, waiting for Elefun to show up. He had something of a serious nature he needed to discuss with him while Astro was busy entertaining.

"_**But when, Colum?"**_

"_**That, I cannot tell you. I know this though. It is he that must do the seeking, you can't do it for him."***_

The office door creaked open, and Elefun stepped in, tucking his old, grey fedora under his arm and flashing his moody colleague a smile. Tenma smiled back, flicked off the television, and made a sweeping motion with his arm toward Nora. Letting her know she could leave.

Elefun waited until he heard the door snap shut behind him before walking over and settling himself into the red burgundy leather arm chair in front of Tenma's desk. He looked around, the left corner of his mouth dropping a bit and asked, "What's going on with the house? It looks so empty. I thought at least your office would be different."

Tenma sighed and settled back into his desk chair, looking up momentarily into the tiny crystals hanging from the chandelier above him.

"Astro spent all of last week hiding away our luxuries in the attic to keep his friends from thinking he's spoiled little nancy boy."

"But he is, isn't he? In some ways I mean. Due to you."

"Oh yes. He collapses on the floor, cries, and kicks his feet like a two year old when something doesn't go just the way he wants or needs it to. You're also right about it being my fault he has that problem."

Giggling, and the sounds of several pairs of feet could be heard outside, running down the stairs all at the same time. Astro's door, down the hall, closed almost as soon as the last foot step could be heard slapping against the marble flooring in the living room. Tenma prayed silently to himself that the next time he looked at his antique, oak, coffee table there wouldn't be any water rings on it.

Folding his hands together and resting them atop his large, tweed and brass button covered belly, Elefun wriggled his nose in an effort to get rid of an itch in his left nostril.

"Well…bad parenting, personality defects and all that aside…what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Astro's blue prints."

Dr. Elefun's normally small, round, lilting eyes, grew to the size of saucers and a million thoughts began to race to race through his mind. Toby's blue prints? Had he lost them? No. Never. Not in a million years. All during the time it took to build him, Tenma had been so paranoid about forgetting where he'd locked them up that he'd walked around the first four months mumbling the safe combination and location to himself under his breath over and over again, clamming up when anyone came near enough to hear him. No…he could never lose them. Not him. So what was it?

"Tenma..Tenma don't tell me the President and his secretary have made demands on you for them!"

Tenma waved his hand and shook his head, rocking in his chair a bit to get the restlessness out of his legs.

"No, no, Elefun..it's nothing like that. President Logan still only wants the same thing he asked us for before. For Astro to stand next to him as an inspirational piece when he gives his speech next week."

"Well then what is it? You scared the hell out of me just now! You almost _never_ bring up his blue prints unless it's to do with some structural change you plan to make! Good lord! I thought we were going to have to go old school and bust out our pistols on somebody!"

"Nothing quite that serious Fat Man. But when it is…I'll make sure you've got all the bullets you need for that Colt Revolver you keep strapped to your ankle."

Elefun leaned over slightly in his chair, knuckles turning white from squeezing the arms so hard. People his age typically began to get that pins and needles feeling in their fingertips creeping up on them about now. He felt it, and ignored it. There would be time to for him to feel how old he was later. Tenma was opening up one his desk drawers…slowly pulling out what appeared to be a manila folder, full to bursting with various different color pieces of paper.

"I want to give you a copy Pakadermis."

"Of the-?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The manila folder, pinned closed on both sides with large safety-pins, and paperclips, slid across the desk and into Dr. Elefun's waiting, outstretched palms.

"President Logan's speech is next week."

"Yes. And?"

"I'm worried that things…aren't going to go well. Every time I turn on the television to catch up on the news I see Emily Neile's face plastered all over everything. Her name is the only name the media seems to know."

Confusion flashed across Elefun's face, as he looked back and forth between the pages in the manila folder, and the little crease between Tenma's eyebrows. Why was the Secretary of State being mentioned in the news such a bad thing? From what he'd read in the paper, she'd been doing a lot of good in the city. She'd shaken down all those orphanages using children as cheap labor. _And_ she'd stopped all the Robot scrapping facilities from destroying still able-bodied machines, making it possible for construction sites to get more of the labor force they needed. Good people who did good things deserved to be for their good deeds. At least by his thinking anyway. And if Astro stood up on the stage next to the President the following Monday and the crowd decided they wanted to give him a five hour standing ovation, what would be wrong with that? He'd done a _good_ deed. A _very_ good deed.

"And that's bad because….?"

Tenma folded his arms over the desk and rested his chin on top, eyes closed.

"It's bad because it doesn't tell me anything about the man I'm going to be dealing with over the course of the next few years. Nothing except that he's most likely too incompetent to really take care of business."

"He didn't seem incompetent during the election. He gave some good speeches and had a lot of really good ideas."

"Good idea's he has yet to act on, Pakadermis. And I don't know if you've ever gone back and looked at any of the footage of his speeches on the net, but half the time he said anything that trumped Stone's response's it was mostly due to Emily looking over his shoulder and scaring the man half to death with those sharp blue eyes of hers."

Elefun frowned, and stuck the manila folder in the wedge of space between his thigh and the arm of the chair.

"Alright…so say President Logan _is_ just ignorant boob who came into politics with a hobo pack and a pocket full of dreams..what does that have to do with Astro? How is _he_ in any danger?"

"I don't know that he's really in any danger Elefun..I'm just taking precautions. Right now, it pretty much looks like the Secretary of State is running things. And she's doing a bang up job. Getting things done. Not pussy footing around like I suspect Logan was the first the month after the inauguration. And on top of that, when she came here, and met Tobio for the first time..she didn't act at all like I'd expected her to given her profession."

"Which was?"

"Like how I imagine the public will respond when they find out about his origins. She didn't look at him like he was just some super-powered puppet. A copy of a pre-teen boy who died almost two years ago. Made me feel less..less like I'd done wrong in creating him. Less like I'd committed a sin against god."

"So what you're saying is, you're afraid that come time for the President to re-resume his regime, he won't be up to the task of making sure the public continues to see Astro for what he is? Despite his being a robot? And despite whatever his original -_ahem- purpose_ may have been?"

Elefun jumped slightly in his seat when Tenma's glassy dark eyes fluttered open. He would never get used to this man and his mood swings. His lip curled up and the corners of his mouth angled downward in what had to be the most pronounced frown he'd ever given. And that was saying something. Umataro Tenma was not what you'd call the jolly sort. He almost never smiled. Unless, of course, it had something to with a witty remark he'd just made or some new invention he'd just come up with.

"Yes. That's _exactly_ what I'm saying. And that's why I'm giving you a copy of his blue prints."

He was sitting up ramrod straight in his chair now, eyebrows knitted together.

"If he was worried before that he'd have to choose between his childhood and being a super hero..he'll be doubly worried next Monday. People will cheer and thank him, but only so long as they don't know he has any other function beyond that."

"You can't say that for all the people in Metro City, Tenma. Not everyone is as against robots with Astro's vast range of emotional capabilities as you think. Look at his friends for instance! They're all hold up in there together playing video games and doing the 'YouTube'! Talking to him just the same as if he were any other boy!"

"Just the same, all exceptions aside, I want you to take those blue prints home and study them. Study hard. Memorize them. And once you've done that, burn them! I want there to be someone around other than myself that can make repairs to him should anything happen."

Elefun sighed and nodded.

"Alright. Not a problem. But I think you're being just a bit paranoid about all this. There's no definitive proof the President is as ignorant as all _that_ just because he's not in the news! For all we know the stress of everything might've made him sick or something.."

"Just go home and get to studying the prints, Fat Man. I'm doing what I've got to do to protect my son."

"If you _really_ want to do something to protect him then why don't you stop walking around the house nude in the mornings? And telling him all those horror stories about the seedy clubs you used to visit before you met his mother!"

"Because I want him to be as well rounded as his old man when I age-mod him on his sixteenth birthday. You are _DISMISSED_ Pakadermis!"

**Emily and Robert Logan**

"Emily..this is a lot more than I remember saying to give them."

"I know that…but don't you think he deserves it? After all he's done? The lives he's saved?"

"I agree with you on that score, but he's a _robot_!"

"And? What difference does that make?"

Robert Logan let his eyes skim over the papers in lap again. For the umpteenth time since Emily had walked in and showed them to him. He'd been at home for the past few weeks recuperating from the nervous breakdown he had had. After the inauguration he'd been filled more hope and optimism than a Lisa Frank full color poster board. But when he'd looked out his window and seen the flood of Outland refugee's coming in..doubling..then tripling the weight of the city and keeping it from being able to rise to its original position in the sky…his enthusiasm began to seriously weighn. The power plant that had once supported Metro City only had enough power to support the population of people that had already been living there. It was one of the principle reasons so many of them were now living in tents and doing their laundry in public fountains.

"It makes a _big_ difference Emily! What's a robot going to do with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars? Where did you even get it to give to him in the first place?"

Emily stuck her arm out, pressed her hand to his chest, and pushed him back onto the pile of red, satin, downy pillows behind him. He attempted to sit back up, but after receiving a good frosting from Emily, his back returned to its perspective place.

"First, it wasn't _Astro_ I gave the extra money to, Rob. It was his father."

"Why? He had more than enough in his bank account already. We gave _that_ back didn't we?"

"Well sure, but if you want the best you've got to pay for it Rob. And Tenma's the _best._ Stone knew it and paid him accordingly. Don't you think we ought to follow suit?"

"Not if it means bleeding the whole treasury dry.."

"We're not in the red yet. Relax. Repairs are going good. The mall is up and running now along with all the grocery stores and hospitals."

"That's good."

"And I took care of that child labor issue in the orphanages too."

"Also good. What about all the refugee's? Are they still..?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Damn."

Emily reached down and adjusted the pull strings on the hood of her emerald green jogging suit, the only thing she had time to put on in the morning. Rob had been laid up on the futon in his den for about three weeks now, give or take. His personal physician had recommended, due to his severely beleaguered and over stressed state, that he be put in the quietest, most relaxing room in the house to just rest and take a load off. There was a humidifier on the end table next to him, pumping out water vapor to make it easier for him to breathe, and vanilla scented candles added by his wife to help keep the air from getting too stale.

One would imagine that the President of all people would be living in the most luxurious, well decorated penthouse in town…but no. Rob was the complete polar opposite of his predecessor, Stone. His home was as modest as you could possibly get. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, family room, kitchen and living room, all decorated in his and his wife's personal style. White cabinets in the kitchen.. with little blue forget-me-not's painted on the handles and soft, plush, yellow plaid couches in the living room, off-set nicely by

Beige carpeting. It was cozy and warm. Perfect for a relatively young married couple with two little ones running around.

"What're we going to do about them all, Emily?"

She took a moment to run her tongue over her chapped, peach-pink lips, and peered back up at him through her lashes. It always came back to that. 'What are we going to do about the Refugee's?' Privately, at times, Emily wished she could just take the reins and tell him exactly what it was needed to be done and do it. Without him asking 'What about this?' and 'What about that?'. The issue of what to do about the people from the Outlands was simple for her..and being a man of means and a good education and years of experience in politics, it should've been simple for him too.

"We let them stay. Force the landlords slamming the doors in their faces to rent to them."

Robert's eyes took on a feverish sort of look.

"Emily—we can't just- !"

"_Yes_ we can!"

"We need Metro City to get back to the way it was! The way it's supposed to be! And we can't do it with all the extra weight! Unless we build another power plant, and even _then_ there's the issue of over-crowding and how much we have left in our budget!"

Emily's hand stretched out once again and placed itself on Rob's chest to push him back onto his pile of feather downy pillows. He was starting to look clammy and the sick look in his eyes made her wonder if he'd been sleeping well. The last thing she needed was for him to have another nervous breakdown and not being able to come back into office next week. She'd never in her whole entire life been as exhausted as she was right then. Four hours of rest, for a person who normally got the recommended eight to nine, was just not enough. And it showed in her voice when she spoke to him next.

"You're _right_ Rob. We don't have the money to build another power plant. But we _DO_ have just enough left to build a few more houses and apartment complexes. _JUST ENOUGH _ to fix up some of the old derelict buildings in the historic district and convert them into shelter's."

" But Emily, what about-?"

"The people already living here before they came in? They'll get over it! It's like I told you weeks ago Rob! Nobody cares about getting Metro City back into its place in the sky! And no one gives a damn about the people from the Outland's moving in either! At least the people with _sense_ don't—and right now you're acting like you haven't got a lick of it!"

Robert Logan stared at his Secretary of State, for a moment, as though he'd never seen her before. Her hair, usually held back in a tight French bun, was hastily piled on top of her head with an assortment of pins and clips, a few scraggly blonde tendrils hanging down over her forehead and down the back of her neck. The sour expression on her face and the dark circles under her sharp eyes made him swallow instantly the words of reprobation he had been about to throw at her. He turned his head and sank down farther into his pillows.

"You're right…we'll..just.."

"What Rob?"

"Just do as you see fit."

He heard her sigh, heavily, as though a weight had been taken off her shoulders, and then turned his head back when he heard her chair slide back. She was standing up, brushing off her jump suit and shrugging her pocket book, filled with file folders, over her shoulder. He looked down at his hands, and at the now paperless quilt draped over his knees. Never in his entire life had he felt so inferior. So…'un-presidential'. Emily looked it though. Dirty green jogging suit and all. And here he was. Propped up on feather pillows with eiderdown silk covers in his house coat and striped pajama's.

"Thank you Rob. I'll be back tomorrow to give you a report on how things are going. Good night."

"Night Emily. And good luck."

**Astro, Cora, and Zane**

Astro opened the door and Grace, Widget, and Sludge all ran pell-mell out onto the porch, their arms full of all the toys he'd let them have out of his old toy chest. The van to take them, and Zane, back to St. Elmo's had just pulled up in front of the house. The woman in the driver's seat was hunched over the steering wheel, drumming her fingers on the dashboard impatiently. Waiting for Cora to finish reminding Zane about his promise to take care of the little ones in her absence.

"Don't let Grace kill herself on that sit-n-bounce. And make sure Sludge doesn't stick any o' those green plastic army men up his nose. You know how he can get when he's bored."

"Yeah, yeah..I know. And don't let Widget and Sludge fight one another over the speak-n-spell either. _I got it, Cora._"

Zane's St. Elmo uniform was covered in marinara sauce stains, and his shoes were scuffed up beyond belief from running up and down the stairs when they'd played Nerf tag. He still had at least six of the darts tangled up in his hair. And Cora, who'd been complaining about the condition of her clothes from the beginning, looked even worse. She'd ended up getting a giant rip on the back of her hunter green sweater when she'd slid down the banister to try and get him in the back of the head with a couple of the darts. And her teeth and tongue had turned an odd sort of purplish color from all the blue-raspberry lemonade Hawaiian punch she'd drank. Not to mention the ever more prominent holes in the knees of her jeans from continuously picking at the loose threads in an attempt to make herself look less ragged. Personally, Astro thought it fit well. What with the kind of music she liked to listen to. Punks wear raggedy jeans with holes don't they? Yeah. And metal fans too. Which one of them did she say likes to do the hardcore dancing thing at concerts?

Minus the obscenely disgusting viral video's he'd been forced to watch as a revenge for the 'Monster Baby Death Scene' one he'd showed, today had been fun. A lot of fun. The only time his dad had come out of his office and said anything to him had been when Dr. Elefun had left, and he thanked the lord it hadn't been like what he'd said earlier. He'd only wanted for him to make sure they didn't knock over any of the little ivory elephant figurines on the mantle or leave water rings on the coffee table.

Astro stuck his fist out for Zane to give a quick pound, and then, after Cora gave him a hug, and another reminder about calling her, he stepped off the porch with the little ones behind him. All waving and dropping and re-picking up their new toys at the same time. When he lost sight of the vans break lights, he closed the door, sighed, and grinned over his shoulder at Cora. What a day it had been. _What a day_.

Cora tugged at the front of the t-shirt he'd lent her in place of her now shredded sweater, and looked up at him through her lashes, eyebrows furrowed in irritation at the continuous creeping up over her belly button it was doing.

"You look happy."

"I am! Today was awesome!"

Cora settled with just folding her arms low over her abdomen, held her head up all the way, and smiled back.

"Yeah. It was. 'Cept for that nasty ass video you showed me."

Astro rolled his eyes, and turned around to lean against the door, still grinning for all he was worth. It was the first time in his entire life he'd ever been able to have friends over and he'd had a blast. His blue core was rattling like loose change in chest. And there was a constant barrage of beeps and warnings flashing in front of his eyes about the amount of strain he was putting on the artificial muscles in his face from all the smiling. How could he _not_ smile right now? _How could he NOT?_ He'd gotten to run around the house shooting Nerf darts! Play video games with _other people_! And even though he hadn't been able to actually _eat_ any of the pizza, the flavoring he'd gotten to suck off the pieces of pepperoni and sausage had been enough to alleviate that weird 'Where's my stomach feeling?' inside him.

"Oh c'mon! My video wasn't anywhere _near_ as gross as yours! Ugh. Chicks throwing up and—and I don't even wanna say the rest!"

"It may not have been quite as bad, but it was still disgusting! That thing had some kind of thick goop coming out of it when the guy stabbed it!"

He flashed his teeth at her. "Oh..so _that's_ why you threw up. The thick goopy stuff coming out of it reminded you of the pizza sauce."

"Shut up!"

Astro laughed and ran off into the living room, the sound of his bare feet slapping on the marble floor echoing throughout the house. He needed to remind himself later to start putting the moved furniture and stuff back as soon as possible. Echo's sounded ridiculously loud to him. It was a good thing he'd taken off his boots when he had.

He flopped over onto the couch and let out sigh. Cora came in and sat down on the floor next to him, arms still folded up over her stomach. If only Astro'd had a bigger shirt. Then she wouldn't have to worry about her mom looking at her funny when she got home..or when she came to pick her up. Whichever.

"So..you've got regular feet now?"

"Yeah."

"Feet and no stomach?"

"There's a lot of stuff involved with having a stomach that would be really complicated to try and translate into robotics."

"Like what?"

"You _really_ want me to go into to all that?"

"I _did_ say before that I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask."

Astro propped his head up on his arms. He had a couple of questions he wanted to ask too. He wanted her opinion about something he'd been thinking about for a while.

"Okay..but when do you have to go home?"

"I could spend the night if it's cool with your dad?.."

Spend the night? That would be cool. They could play take turns playing pin ball, and Pac Man. Maybe some Mario Party. At least until she got tired and wanted to sleep. Then again..all the airy shuffling back and forth coming from inside his dads office was making him think twice. What if he was in one of his moods? Angry, depressed or otherwise? He chewed his lip for a minute or two, and then responded.

"It'd be nice if you could stay, but sometimes dad gets weird."

Cora blinked and tilted her head to the side, starting to tug down at the front of the t-shirt again, a bit of a confused look on her face.

"He was a little _odd_ earlier now you mention it. Was he making fun of me or something?"

"No…he just..likes to make up his own allegories for stuff."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Hm…well, do you think he'd mind giving me a ride in a couple more hours if my mom's busy?"

"He wouldn't mind. Although.."

"Although what?"

"I could try _flying _you home later if you want."

"No way in hell dude."

Astro laughed, and rolled over onto his side. He could hear the gears turning and ticking off the seconds inside the grandfather clock on the other side of the room. It was almost seven o' clock. Ten probably wouldn't be too late to ask for a ride for Cora. And they'd have three hours to get all their questions out on the table.

"Alright then. You go first. I'll ask my dad about driving you around ten."

"Sweet! So! First question. What's your hair made out of ? You didn't have it before. Just that weird rubbery lookin' stuff."

"Weird rubbery lookin' stuff? It was actually made out of carbon before..not rubber."

"What about _now_?"

"It's…not made out of anything. It's human hair my dad had Dr. Elefun buy from somewhere."

"So you're wearing somebody else's hair? That's creepy. What would you do if you ever _met_ the person?"

"I dunno..but..I have kind of a serious question I wanna ask you."

Cora leaned forward over her lap, head sinking between her shoulders a bit. Her eyes looked bigger than normal, and the blue-ish, purplish tint on her lips from the punch she'd drunk made her look a tad creepy in the light coming from the chandelier, contrasting with pinks and oranges from the sunset outside.

"What's up?"

"You and Zane asked me earlier what it was I'd been up to over the last couple of weeks..and months. And I told you about the President and his Secretary wanting me to be up on the podium when he gives his speech."

"Yeah?"

"Hypothetically speaking..if they wanted me to start..you know..catching criminals and stuff..what should my superhero name be?"

Cora's face screwed up and she leaned back and propped herself up on her palms.

"A superhero name? You thinking about fighting crime all of a sudden? I didn't think that after everything that happened you'd-."

"I'm not. I just wanna know what you think people would call me if I was a superhero."

"Astro..you already are a hero."

"I know, but I'd still like to know. What if it ends up being something dumb? Cheesy? If they put me in the paper next week I'd really like for the name they put down to be something cool sounding."

"What's wrong with the name you were born with?"

"Tobias Troubadour-Alexander Tenma?"

"Your real name is _Tobias_?"

"Yeah."

"_Really_?_"_

"Uh huh."

"Oh…well then just tell em' to call you Astro. Astro Boy."

"Astro Boy?"

"Yeah. Your name is Astro and you're a boy. Simple and to the point."

"Hm. Thanks Cora."

"No problem."

Cora hopped up off the floor and made a motion for him to sit up so she'd have room to sit down next to him.

"Now I have a question for you. Do you dream?"

((A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that. Sorry it took me so long to get it to you. This chapter is a lot less descriptive than my previous chapter's which upsets me. I feel like I was getting really good at that. Thanks for all your reviews by the way. They keep me typing. lol Look forward to Chapter Eight just as soon as I can get some good reference material!))

***The little bit of dialogue I used when Tenma was watching T.V before Elefun came in is a piece from ****"Scarlett: The Sequel To Gone With The Wind"**** by Alexandra Ripley. All credit goes to her and Margaret Mitchell. I do not own any of the character's or make money off this story.**


	8. Chapter 8: March of the Martyrs

((A/N: This is the second to the last chapter guys. It isn't quite as long as I wanted it to be..but reading over it when I had it at 16 pages I decided I would do with this what I did with Chapter's Six and Seven. Sometimes less is more. And I feel good about this one. Let me know what you guys think! ))

**Chapter Eight: March of the Martyrs**

A tired, sore, and slightly sour smelling Pakadermis J. Elefun sighed, and let his small, grey eyes slowly wander up towards the little bit of morning light creeping out from behind the thin, white linen curtains in his office. The clock, slowly ticking off the seconds next to him read six thirty. He'd been up almost the entire night pouring over Astro's blue prints. Straining his eyes over all the complicated circuitry and odd assortments of connections in various places Tenma had made. He grunted and brought his thumb and pointer finger up to rub away the ache on the bridge of his nose, due to his glasses having dug into it. You could learn an awful lot about a man's ethical point of view when you stayed up looking over his designs. And Tenma was a man who obviously had a _very VERY _different ethical point of view from the average scientist.

Brain matter… traces of blood being used throughout Astro's circulatory system… and there were even some of Tobio's _hair follicles_ precariously placed here and there on what was supposed to be his scalp. Evidence of Tenma having actually collected thing's from his son's body after his death. It was disturbing. And he had absolutely NO idea what to do with the information. What was he supposed to do should he ever have to actually try his hand at fixing the boy? Grave rob to make sure the child maintained his ties to his former self? Good lord. Why in the world had he ever agreed to do this? Then there were all the cosmetic changes he'd made during the time they'd stayed with him. The application of artificial fingernails, a belly button..and _nipples_ of all things. What was he really missing out on by not having them? Being able to paint his nails and walk into a piercing and tattoo shop on his own when he turned sixteen to further perpetuate the 'rebellious teen phase' stereotype?

Standing up out of his chair, Elefun took a few moments to adjust his pants, then walked around to the front of the desk to gather up the assorted pieces of paper littered all over it. He could hear his house bot puttering around outside doing her early morning sweep up. He let out a series of groans as he made his way over to a portrait hanging by the bookshelf on the right side of the room. Sitting for so long like that was going to have to be cut out in the future. His old bones just couldn't take it. Nor could they handle the chill creeping up underneath his office door from the greenhouse, which really needed to shut up before things started to get _really_ frosty come late November. Why did he have a greenhouse anyway? Biology had only been a minor for him in school. Other than that six year spree he went on after Tenma had become Minister…flying around the Horticulturist's Lab with Amaya—er Hoshie. Now he thought about it.._that_ was probably the reason he had a greenhouse.

Elefun chuckled and pushed the portrait of him-self hanging on the wall, to the side, revealing an old, ash-gray safe he'd had installed in the wall some ten years ago when he'd gotten heavy into super-robotics. It took all of about a minute for him to open it, slip the prints in, and get the picture back in its place. He then shuffled his way out of the office, flipping off the light switch on his way out. The shower he was about to take was going to feel wonderful. And so was the next eight hours worth of sleep he was about to get. Or rather..that hoped he was about to get.

Ever since Tenma had struck up that deal with Emily Niele, and moved back into his and Astro's home in Green Acre's, things had been..very quiet. Almost eerily so. The six and a half month's they'd stayed with him he'd gotten used to hearing their sounds of general discontent about both the environment they were living in, and their constant voicing of their dissatisfaction with one another. The very day they'd first come to stay in fact, Tenma had stepped over the threshold complaining about how stale and hospital-like his home smelled, and didn't have anything too much nicer than that to say about the décor either. Astro had been several degree's more polite than that, thank god, and had kept all his opinions about the little things, to himself, unless of course it concerned the room he resided in.

Speaking of that room in particular, Elefun laughed out loud when he looked out of the corner of his eye and spotted it on his way towards the kitchen to grab a hot cup of tea. There had been many a night when he'd walked in there to find the boy he privately liked to call his Grandson playing on his Nintendo DS, bouncing around on the cot where he kept his clothes, and even doing things as trivial as counting the dust-motes floating around the room to fight off boredom. And god forbid any hapless insect crawled or flew his way in. He'd end up on his back with a laser burning through his abdomen immediately after having been scooped up and tossed into a corner where the burn holes would be less visible to any visitors. Anything.._anything _to escape the endless monotony of the evening hours when everyone he knew was asleep. Poor Toby. Not able to sleep. Not able to eat. Not even able to fully enjoy the secret stash of 'Playboy Magazine's' his father kept hidden on top of the center book shelf in his filing room.

Dianna puttered her way on into the kitchen a moment after him, a dust pan clasped close to her pale blue chasse, and hovered her way over to the trashcan to empty its contents. She wasn't anything like Nora. It had taken him all of about a year and half to build her and make sure she understood all the commands he gave her and the various duties she was to perform. Nora had hovered off the table almost as soon as she'd opened her eyes asking Tenma what year wine he wanted out of the basement to go with his T-Bone steak and baked potato! In a just a few more day's he was going to be Vice Minister of Science. He'd have access to any and all project plans, and the authority to decide how the Ministry budget would be spent. All that, and a much bigger pay check. And despite his Ph D's in a good majority of the science's he wasn't sure he was exactly as pleased about it as he had been before.

"What kind of tea would you like this morning Professor Elefun?"

Elefun settled himself into the chair at the head of the table stretching his legs out once again to relieve a bit more of that pins and needles feeling still crackling up and down them. "The usual Dianna. Chamomile. Three teaspoons of sugar-one tablespoon of creamer please. Thank you."

"Yes sir."

The curtains on the window over the sink, which were the same thin, gauzy linen as in his office were a bright golden yellow now. Due to the sun having fully risen. Elefun looked down at the contents of his cup once Dianna sat it down and grimaced. His mind kept wandering back to the contents of the blue prints. How do you tell your..er.._boss_—or anyone for that matter- who'd put that amount of time and determination into something they _loved_, that a good bit of the fixture's internalized in it are unnecessary and just down right unsettling upon contemplation? How do you tell a man who watched his son being ripped to shreds—his limbs torn off and spine crushed—right in front of him, that the method's he'd used to, in a sense, 'raise him from the dead', were not at all scientifically ethical? Let alone even morally ethical! Then there was the matter of Astro himself. How would he react knowing that somewhere out in the country, on the plot of land his family owned, that his old body..or what was left of it, lay languishing and rotting away in the family crypt with pieces of it missing?

He took a few sips of his tea after Dianna exited the kitchen to finish her cleaning, and let out a deep sigh. It seemed he was always the one getting stuck with making choices like this. Burn the blue prints and forget about the whole thing? Tell Tenma he's a sick demented bastard for having done such a thing? No. Toby was still on the books in the Metro City regional hospital as his God Son. And Tenma was still one of his closest friends. He would just have to swallow his misgivings about it and go into his room and get some sleep. One, because he was old and a bachelor in his mid-fifties. He needed someone to bicker with occasionally, and it was nice to have company over sometimes. And two, because he was just that type of person. The type of person who preferred to ask "For whom?" , rather than "For what?"

**Astro and Cora **

"Cora..?"

Cora grumbled and flopped over onto her stomach, burrowing herself deeper into the mass of Egyptian cotton covered pillows and various blankets she didn't remember having when she'd originally gone to sleep. This was the fourth time Astro had come over to see if she was awake or not since she'd passed out at around three in the morning during a game of Uno. She had no idea what time it was. She just knew she really, _really_ wanted Astro to go away and let her snooze. Such soft pillows. Such cool, smooth sheets.

"Cora? It's nine o' clock. My dad's up..and he wanted to..you know. Know when it was you wanted to go home.."

Cora picked her head up off the pillow and scowled. Astro waved nervously, then backed up a bit in case she swung at him. He knew from experience that she wasn't the happiest person in the world when she woke up in the morning. The gunk in the corners of her eyes and the semi-dried drool on the left side of her chin made her look even _more_ surly if that was at all possible.

"Guh..Can't I just sleep over again?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind, but I don't think my dad is gonna be too comfortable with the idea of someone staying two nights in a row. Remember when I told you how he never used to let me have company over before?"

"Oh.."

"Yeah."

She blinked at him a couple of times after finally getting her eyes all the way open, then smiled. Astro looked up at the ceiling awkwardly and scratched at the little tingle on the back of his head. He'd been having a lot of 'ghost itches' lately. He took a moment to turn up his hearing, and glanced toward the door. The only sound he could hear behind it was Nora, puttering around in the hall way sweeping and wiping things down. His dad was still shuffling around his room, occasionally taking sips of his coffee. Cora sat up and belched, making him wince and he snapped his eyes back over to her with a mildly irritated look on his face. He ought not to have told her so much about all his functions and weapons and whatnot the night before. Especially not the super hearing. She seemed to be able to pick up on when he was using it somehow, now she knew about it.

Cora grinned, showing all thirty-two of her Hawaiian punch and soda stained teeth, then flopped back onto the bed, patting her belly with both hands.

"It hurts you know!"

"What?"

"The loud noises when I'm using my hearing!"

"Sorry. It's just funny seeing how startled you look when it happens."

He brought his hands up to massage his ears, and listened just a bit longer to see whether or not his dad was coming towards them, then turned his hearing back down and proceeded to clean up the trash littered all around the room from yesterday's escapades. Or was it last night's escapades? He wished he could sleep. Then he'd have a better grasp on times and days and not be bored out of his mind all the time. There was a big pile of clothing on the floor in front of the closet where he'd been trying on clothes over and over again after Cora had fallen asleep just to have something to do. The last outfit, a navy blue and white long sleeve shirt and blue jeans was what he had on now. That, and an old black baseball cap he'd found stuck up under the now empty toy chest Widget and Sludge had dug around in to find toys to take back with them. Everything they'd left behind he'd gone ahead and thrown away.

"So…about that question I asked last night…"

Astro looked over his shoulder, clutching a handful of closet hangers in one hand and a little bundle of shirts in the other. There she was again. Asking awkward questions. He rolled his eyes and sighed, turned back around towards the closet and hung up the first shirt he was able to get a hanger into without dropping. He could have maybe made it easier on himself and put them on the desk and done it one at a time, but he wanted to try to make it so Cora could stay as long as possible. When she left he'd have to go back to shooting water bugs out the kitchen window to keep busy. At least until his dad came in and decided he wanted to chat about something.

"You _really _want to know the answer to that? How do you figure _I_ even know?"

"Because! It's your.._body. _You have to know where it's buried. Do you have like your own.._crypt_ thingy?"

He really didn't know. And what was more, it had never been something he'd felt comfortable asking his dad or Dr. Elefun about. Pretty much everything he knew he'd already told Cora the night before. All the way from the days when he was little and his dad used to take him horseback riding up until the point where he started working so much he virtually forgot what he looked like. He'd even told her about the time he'd gotten to go to Africa when he was eight because they couldn't find a babysitter on short notice.

"I don't know. Maybe. I know my mom is in one. Somewhere out in the country near the house we lived in when I was a baby.."

"Hm. It seems like-."

"Something somebody would see fit to tell me?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome. Now I know I'm not the only one that thinks so."

Cora folded her arms across her chest and squinted against the sunlight coming in through the windows, hitting her directly in the eyes, and made the decision, finally, to get all the up. The little bit of a reflection of herself that she could see in the mirror over Astro's dresser made the 'low class chick in a rich person's house' feeling she'd had the whole day before come back again. She looked like crap. She was still wearing the same spare t-shirt he'd given her to wear after her sweater had ripper. Only this time it was all crinkled up from having been slept in and stained with the various foods and drinks she'd had. And her hair looked like something out of a bad Lady Gaga parody video. She started raking her fingers through it and walked over towards the mirror to try and make it look at least a _little_ better. Jeeze..maybe it was time now to start thinking about getting rid of the pink streaks.

Astro watched her smooth down her hair out of the corner of his eye, now in the process of hanging up his eighth shirt. Cora was pretty. Even when she was covered in pizza stains and her breath smelled like onions. Onions. Heh. He looked away to keep her from seeing the smile on his face , and started to move at an even slower pace than before at putting away his clothes. In the days before the get-together he'd had a chance to do a lot of thinking. Primarily about his upcoming meeting with President Logan. His dad and Dr. Elefun had pretty much said what he figured scientists who deal with high up political figures and military personnel on a regular basis always say to someone who hasn't.

'_Don't worry. I've got it.' _Or , _'Everything's going to be fine. The only one with any brains in this administration is the Secretary of State anyway. You just relax and let us do the talking and wait till' the paparazzi comes out.'_

Paparazzi? That meant cameras. And a lot of them. And what did they mean the Secretary of State was the only smart one? Nobody knew anything about President Logan really. What if he was just another war-mongering jack-ass like Stone? Then there was the thought that everyone might expect for him to start…_crime fighting._ An idea that, the more and more he thought about it, seemed like a much better use of his time than spending hour after hour wandering around his house, watching his dad sleep, and making small talk with Nora. He'd thought a lot about school and his old friends. Especially after Cora'd asked the question about whether or not he knew where his former self was buried. Where _were_ Kennedy and Alejo? Where _was_ Alvin? Did they make it out of everything okay? Were their houses still intact? Or did they get busted up like a lot of other stuff when the city fell? Had they come to his funeral? What about Grandma and Grandpa Tenma? Were they okay? So many questions. So many people to think about.

"Hey, Cora?"

"Yeah?"

She was holding her hair back in a ponytail with her hand and further surveying herself, using the nail on her pinky finger to pick the gook out of the corner of her eyes. Totally not a very lady-like thing to do,especially when she could easily just ask for a wash cloth, but it was okay. Cora's lack of…'class' as his dad would probably have put it was what he liked about her.

"You really think 'Astro Boy' is a good name?.."

Cora looked at the oddly colored crust under nail and scrunched up her face, and then once she realized Astro was actually looking dead at her, shot both her hands down to her sides and attempted one of her 'I-don't-care-what-you-think-of me' looks which he of course did not acknowledge.

"Uh—yeah. Yes! I do. Why? You said yesterday you weren't thinking about doing any crime fighting."

"I know. But I'm changing my mind. At least for now."

Cora frowned. The whole time she'd been running around Astro's giant,comfortably furnished mansion she'd felt nervous and self-concious about her ratty clothes, and the fact that her hair was a tad oily from not having had the chance to wash it. That, and another issue that had been weighing particularly heavy on her ever since she'd had that first weird little dream about him. That issue in particular _being_..that he was a robot. Not a cyborg. And there was no part of him—at least as far as she knew—that was human. And yet she couldn't make the crush she had on him go away. No matter what she did. No matter how logically she tried to justify NOT liking him to herself. No matter how much her mom had tried either. And between the both of them..they'd tried just about everything they could think of. Even Zane's awkward questionings and hypotheticals the day prior to their group visit hadn't been able to chew away any sizeable chunks of feeling she had.

_**-Flashback-**_

"_Do you have and five's?"_

"_No, 'Go Fish.'."_

_Cora looked out of the corner of her eye as she reached down to sift through the pile of playing cards between her and Zane. They'd been sitting in the same spot going through various games since she'd gotten there that morning. 'Crazy Eights', 'Black Jack', a couple of games of Uno..pretty much everything. Widget, Sludge, and Grace were sitting across from them at the other table, taking turns at playing Connect Fourth against one another. The rec room at the St. Elmo's was relatively full due to the fact it was pouring rain outside. There were kids everywhere. Toddlers and teenager's alike, either digging through cabinets looking for games they haven't already played, or just lounging around over by the windows where a projector set with a movie had been set up for them to watch. _

_Once she had a card in her hand, she looked down to see what it was, then slapped it down in front of Zane who immediately proceeded to snatch it up and stick it into his pile of cards. He had been acting odd all day. Not looking at her. Giving vague answers to questions, and just not saying much in general. Usually you couldn't get him to __**stop**__ talking. Especially on a day like today. The menu posted up on the bulletin board in the entrance hall had spaghetti, garlic bread and cheese sticks for lunch, which was his favorite. That, and supposedly there was a couple interested in taking Widget and Sludge on as their new little ones. He'd talked to her about it before and sounded genuinely happy about it. Making the comment that people were starting to notice how 'Dashingly handsome, and adorable' the twins both were. Even though, try as he might, they were pretty much almost always in a perpetual state of dirtiness. _

_Cora took her eyes off the giant pudding stain on Graces skirt, looked back at Zane and frowned at him as hard as she possibly could. To the point of making her thin black eyebrows appear to be a straight line across her forehead._

"_So why is it you haven't looked me in the face the entire time I've been here?"_

_Zane glanced at her, then went back to staring overly intensely into his playing cards._

"_I have. You're just doing something really jacked up with it right now."_

"_Don't be an asshole! Look me in my eye and tell me what's up!"_

_Cards slapped down on the table, and Zane found a comfy spot on the back-rest of the chair. Still only half-way looking at her. It was too weird and potentially controversial a subject to talk to her about. But he couldn't lie about it and make her quit asking. She'd see right through that. He couldn't just keep making rude comments either. So what could he do? Keeping up the 'silent douchey' routine for too much longer might get him hit. Telling the truth could get him hit too. Why couldn't she have developed a random crush on somebody else?_

"_It's nothing that's a really big deal okay? Just something I've been thinking about for a while."_

"_Such as?"_

_The truth? Or a lie?_

…_._

_A lie._

"_That blonde chick I told you I was diggin' rejected me."_

_Cora's frown turned into a look of impatience. She folded her arms across her chest, and sat back in her chair, just before flicking a crumb off the shoulder of her jacket. Out of all the things he could have come up with….he chose __**that**__? A lie about the chubby thirteen year old girl in the girl dorms across the hall that had been making cow eyes at him since he and the kids had gotten there? Christ._

"_Zane…you have five seconds to tell me the truth. Or I'm going home! And you can spend the rest of the day half-way looking at that stupid playboy magazine clipping you pilfered out of the garbage two days ago!"_

"_I didn't __**pilfer**__ it outta the garbage! And for your information Cora—I don't even really like blondes!"_

"_Dude, what your taste in girls is has nothing to do with __**anything**__! Quit being a douche and answer what I asked about!_

"_You don't even __**know**__ what it is you're asking about!"_

"_I'm asking what's wrong with you!"_

"_Can I answer that by asking __**you**__ a question?"_

"_As long as it doesn't have anything to do with when I'm gonna try to con my mom into adopting all you guys—go ahead!"_

_Zane opened his mouth again to make a snappy retort in response to that comment, but then closed it. Truth might really be the better policy. She looked mad enough to pop, minus the puffy, red sweater she was wearing that he knew she'd gotten out of the clothing bin when she'd been here last. He'd once made a joke to her about her getting her mom to adopt all of them, and since she worked on robots too, it would be just like the old days again in a way. Cora of course, had just made vague statements about what she really thought of the idea. And until just then, he'd always figured she thought it would be cool. He hadn't ever really thought about what her life situation was like outside of when she came to visit. The little pieces of lint on that sweater told him a lot._

"_Um…"_

"_Yeah?"_

_Zane sighed, and leaned forward, back off the chair again. "Why do you like Astro?"_

_Her eyebrows parted ways, and her cheeks turned pink. Cora's face was the only thing not tense at hearing that question asked. She looked up at the ceiling, and started chewing her lip, and folding her arms around tighter. _

"_Can I answer that with another question..?"_

_Zane blew a couple of black curls out of his eyes and rested his chin on his arms. Sure were a lot of questions going around, and not very many answers. Hopefully..it would all sync up sometime before the kids got tired of Connect Fourth and wandered there way over._

"_Go ahead I guess." _

"_Why would that be something that would bother you..? And why…why are you bringing this up right now?"_

"_I don't really wanna talk about it __**all**__. But you looked like you were gonna punch me a second ago, if I didn't just say __**something**__."_

"_Hm.."_

"_Yeah…"_

_There was a few minutes of awkward silence before either of them said anything, and then finally, Cora spoke up. And burst out with a response that made the moment all the more uncomfortable._

"_Do you have an issue with me liking him because…__**you**__..like me?"_

_Zane hid his face and gave an exasperated sigh. How had he not known it was coming?_

"_Goddammit Cora.."_

"_What? Do you? Cuz' if you do I-"_

"_If I do then what? You're cool with it but you don't want things to get weird?"_

"_Well..yeah. But I was gonna say too that—"_

"_Astro is cuter than me?"_

"_No..I was going to say that a long time ago..back when we were just starting out at Hamegg's, I liked you too. At least for a little while."_

"_Really?.."_

_Zane's voice was coming out muffled from behind his arms and Cora reached out to poke him to get him to quit his hiding. It was all technically out there now. They just had to get to talking about the really hard stuff._

"_Yeah."_

_He sat back up again, bringing his face out from within the darkness and Cora stifled a laugh at the crooked expression he had on his face. It was both a frown and a smile at the same time._

"_Oh. Cool."_

"_And you say __**I**__ make conversations awkward. Jeeze."_

"_Shut up. You tell __**me**__ what I wanna know now."_

"_About why I like Astro? What if I don't know?"_

"_How can you not know why you like someone?"_

"_Maybe because it's not something I really think about? Maybe because I just __**do**__ for some inexplicable reason?"_

_Zane leaned forward all the way in his chair, glaring at her. This was not contingent with what he'd heard that guy Dr. Lovenstein say on T.V a couple of days ago._

"_There __**has**__ to be a reason! Do you..like the way he __**looks**__?"_

_Cora's brows knitted together once again and she frowned._

"_Zane.."_

"_Is it cuz you know he's rich now, and could afford to give you security and nice clothes and all that junk?"_

"_Green Acre's is a rich neighborhood..but he might not actually be rich you know. And I'd honestly prefer it if he weren't. This isn't something that can be summed up like that Zane..it's.."_

"_It's what?"_

"_I guess if you just __**have **__to have a definitive answer as to why, I suppose it would be because of the type of person he is."_

"_You mean the type of __**robot**__."_

"_Whatever! But yeah. I mean…we have a lot of the same interests. He took care of the kids back on the surface when I didn't feel like it and he's the most outrageously kind and forgiving person I've ever met. Especially considering what we almost let Hamegg do to him that one night. He could easily have just said 'Screw you guys!' and blasted us into oblivion. But he didn't."_

"_So it's just 'cuz he's nice then? And forgiving?"_

"_Yeah. And he's brave too. Who else do you know that would willingly stick their hand in a poop-clogged toilet to get back an engagement ring for someone they don't even really know?"_

_Zane grimaced and tried quickly to think of something to cover up that particular memory. The day that had happened, they had all gone into town on the surface to sell off some of the more prime scrap metal lying around Hamegg's garage to see if they couldn't try and buy something to eat for dinner that wasn't cold and had bugs crawling on it. They'd walked by a lady crying her eyes out to the owner of a store and Astro had walked over to see what the matter was. After that..well…ugh..it was too disgusting to think about. It smelled like rotten vegetables in the garage for two solid weeks._

"_Okay. I can see how you could be attracted to that. The whole 'nice guy' thing. I personally always thought he took it a bit too far."_

_Cora raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? How do you take being a hero too far?"_

"_When it gets you and the people you care about killed! Duh! I mean..I'm not saying anything about all that stuff with the Peacekeeper or whatever—but sticking your hand in a nasty old toilet to get back a lost wedding ring? Walking two whole days outside of town to deliver a package for some crinkly old woman likely being targeted by big muscely mafia dudes ? There might have been drugs in that box!"_

"_The lady he delivered that package for was handi-capped Zane!"_

"_Well—yeah! But he could've flown! That way we wouldn't have had time to get worried and go looking for him!"_

"_That was when he didn't want us to know he was a robot remember?"_

"_Okay..alright. __**BUT**__…"_

"_But __**what **__lame-o?"_

"_Hypothetically, if you guys dated…or tried to anyway..and you wanted to.. 'do stuff''…which would be creepy by the way..he could like..__**kill you**__. Without really even trying."_

_Cora's jaw dropped, and her eyes bugged out. "REALLY?"_

"_With all the weird stuff __**YOU**__ say, you shouldn't be surprised!"_

_Okay..this needed to end. Cora stared at him in incredulity for a few more minutes before finally formulating what it was that needed to be said to shut him up._

"_Zane..Astro is cool. Really cool. And smart. He has a sense of humor…he's kinda cute. In an odd sort of way..and…I never have to worry about him farting and burping all the time like a normal boy. And like I said before, he's brave, and super nice, and saved a city! Are those good enough reasons for me to like him—or not?"_

_Zane's thin, tanned face scrunched up in slight disappointment and irritation at having been shut down like that. But thinking about all that stuff at once he supposed it made sense. Girls did always like to gripe about how smelly guys were all the time. Even though they could be pretty stinky themselves some days. _

"_Guess this means you want me to shut my face and leave you alone about it huh?"_

"_Yes please."_

"_Okay..got any two's?"_

_**-Flash Back End-**_

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I'm bored."

"That is _not _a good reason to fight crime!"

Astro blinked once, and tilted his head to the side slowly, his expression changing a little too slowly for her liking. Cora bristled a bit. That movement he'd made had looked ridiculously robotic. Like he was analyzing her rather than really _listening_ to what was coming out of her mouth. Not that she'd said much…but still.

"How is that not a good reason? Do you know what it's like to not be able to sleep away all this boredom? I need activity!"

"So punching people in the face with your solid metal hundred thousand horsepower _fist_ is gonna be how you get it?"

Astro grinned. "Maybe. I only said I was _thinking_ about doing it. Why're you getting so upset?"

"I'm NOT upset! I just—don't wanna wake up one morning and find out you died 'cuz some terrorist guy shot you in the chest with a rocket launcher!"

"My dad would just fix me if that happened."

"Well maybe I care enough about you that I don't want it to even get to that point okay?"

Astro laughed, stuck the last t-shirt on a hanger, put it in the closet, shut it, and turned to face Cora, whose eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head for all she was so riled up. The shirt he'd given her to wear the previous day, was now more bunched and dirty looking than ever. Her belly button peeking out from underneath it gave him a ghost itch and he reached down to scratch the spot where his now new, artificial one lay. At that moment..Nora puttered her way in and began hovering around over the carpet, looking at them, and observing the way they were standing and peering at one another. She had finished all of what she knew to be her household chores and had come in to ask _'Little Master Tenma_' if there was anything else she could do since he was the one who always seemed to be giving her her orders now. Before speaking, or announcing herself, she did a scan of him, due to having picked up some strange, unrecognizeable electronic signals from his direction. He wasn't paying any attention to the fact that she had entered at all. Ninety-five percent of all his functionary dynamism was being directed at the young lady..Miss Cora..of whom he was currently speaking to. How odd to devote that much of one's energy towards one thing! Or at least that was how Nora looked at saw the situation. Cora was blushing, and feeling embarrassed because, one, it was the longest awkward silence she'd ever been in, and two, Astro could probably hear her heart knocking around in her chest. His eyes were doing that weird flashy thing they did when he listened really hard at stuff.

"Quit it Astro.."

"Okay."

He stopped grinning, walked over to his desk, and picked up something that looked exactly like the old sweater she'd had when she'd come, except new…and bright purple..and tossed it to her.

Cora looked down at it in confusion after catching it, and held it up. "This isn't mine."

The grin came back. "It is actually. I patched it up and re-dyed it while you were sleeping. You like purple right?"

Cora's arms fell to her sides, the sweater sliding down onto the floor, and her jaw dropped. "HOW?"

"Remember when I said earlier I needed activity?"

"You got _so bored_ you Googled sweater recovery?"

"Yup!"

"Yeah..maybe you _should_ start fighting crime."

They laughed. Together this time. And Astro made a conscious decision at that moment that all his future attempts at ridding himself of boredom would be for Cora. That…and that before she left…he had to figure out some way of telling her that he liked her…_really _liked her…without it being weird.

((**A/N: **Ha ha! Cliffhanger! Of sorts. Don't worry though. The climax come's next chapter! Sorry about the wait. Please review! And thanks again for all the favorite's guys! I really appreciate it!))


	9. Chapter 9: Electric Fune'ral

((A/N: Hey guys. Thanks for all the reviews and favorites. You don't know how much they mean. I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted this story to have nine or ten chapters or more..so I decided to just go with the flow and see where it takes me. ^.^ Happy reading! And do let me know if there's anything story wise any of you have questions about. I try to get back to people as quickly as possible.))

**Chapter Nine: Electric Fune'ral**

**Astro andTenma**

Astro huffed and began chewing his lower lip. Digging his incisors into it harshly, staring out the passenger door window at the rain and mist colliding together around the mostly bare branches of the oak tree's lining the street they lived on. The clouds overhead were a nasty, swirling mixture of pink, and red and black and snot yellow due to mother nature trying a bit too hard to get a sunset to look nice during a rain storm. They had just gotten back from dropping Cora off at her apartment complex, and were sitting stationary in the drive way now, Nora floating just outside with an umbrella waiting for them to get out.

Tenma was the first to break the awkward silence by fiddling around with his coat and gloves… making an unnecessary amount of noise. Then, stepped out of his side of the car and said, "Get out of the car, boy. And quit looking at me like I'm the chunky in your morning milk. It's not my fault you were too chicken to make a move on the girl."

Astro closed his eyes and took a deep, un-needed breath, and got out as well. The rain drops hitting his artificial skin, running their course down his fingertips and then hitting the ground, felt weird. Like needles with a faint electric pulse being run over him. He tromped irritably through the puddles up the walk way to the porch and kicked off his boots by the door and waited while his dad took a more leisurely pace, trying to make sure no rain mussed his shiny new gators. Nora had this odd sort of goggle eyed look on her face. One robotic eye focused on his father, and the other pointed in his direction. Probably out of confusion at not knowing who she was supposed to hold the umbrella over since there was technically only _one _master of the house now.

"I wasn't too chicken. It just didn't seem like the right time."

"Not the right time? She practically threw herself at you!"

"It was a simple hug goodbye dad—why do you always have to make stuff out to be more than it really is?"

He'd finally made it up onto the porch, and was jiggling the keys around in the doorknob. Astro took a moment to wipe the wet off his face and hands, then stepped over the threshold into the foyer once the door was opened and headed into the living room. He hadn't been able to tell Cora he liked her. He hadn't even been able to _hint_ at it. No knowing glance. No brush of the fingertips over the back of a hand…nothing. And it was all his dads fault.

"I'm not! I saw the way you were looking at each other when you were hanging up your clothes."

was slipping off his coat, and Nora, behind him, managed to catch it just before it hit the ground and slung it up on the coat rack. His gloves were lying one on top of the other on the cabinet next to the stairs.

"You weren't supposed to _see_ anything! Did it ever cross your mind—the entire time you were watching us talk through _hacking Nora's eyes_- that maybe I wanted a little privacy?"

Astro plopped down on the couch, waiting for the deep, tobacco smoke ridden chuckle and poor attempt at evading further blame. He didn't have to wait long. He got just what he was expecting not a moment after his butt hit the pillows, and promptly prepared a rebuttal.

"For all you know it could've been one of the neighbor kids."

"_There aren't any kids in this neighborhood dad_! Remember? That's why we left Clover River. You didn't wanna be distracted from your work."

"Hush boy. What difference does all that make _now_? You got to have friends over this past weekend didn't you? And I even let your little would-be girlfriend spend the night."

Tenma sat down in his favorite armchair and propped his feet up, looking up through the sky-light in the ceiling at the sunlight managing to pierce its way in through the clouds outside. By his standards it hadn't been bad. No water rings on the coffee table. No punch stains on the carpet or on the couches…and they hadn't made as much noise as he'd thought they would either. There was only one thing in particular about the days past events that bothered him. The conversation between his son and Cora that he'd just _happened _to overhear an hour and a half ago. The one about him wanting to step up and start trying to police Metro City's beleaguered, crime ridden streets. The way it had played out, he had every reason to believe he wasn't really serious about it. He'd said things like that when he was young to impress girls too…but still. Joking or not. It was something he felt needed to be talked about.

Astro was lying on his side on the couch, all thoughts of anything going on outside his house at the moment, non-existent. The only thing on his mind being what he'd been thinking about since the day before. He looked up at Tenma, worry evident in his features, and as was his custom when someone attempted to make eye contact with him, Tenma turned away awkwardly. Trying to make it look as though something across the room had gotten his attention suddenly.

"So..you think she might actually like me?"

An intake of breath, and then the scent of fruity Turkish tobacco wafted over in his direction a second later.

"Why wouldn't she? You're a great catch."

Astro frowned and pulled his knees up to his chest self-consciously. He wasn't sure if that was a genuine compliment or not. You could never really tell with his dad. It was always somewhere in between.

"Are you being a jerk or do you actually mean that?..And if you _do_ mean it then how so?"

"I never say anything I don't mean son. Or at least I don't try to. And as for what qualities you have that make you the aforementioned 'great catch'..well..there are a number of them. For instance..you're kind hearted. Generous. Mild-mannered. Brave. Outgoing. Patient..and one of the most forgiving people I've ever known. All things that..should you ever choose to really commit..would make you a great a superhero. And a really shitty boyfriend. "

"How-?"

"Think about it."

"If this is about-!"

"THINK! Be quiet and _think_ Tobias, before you jump the gun and figure I'm just assuming things again."

Astro sat up and went into Indian-style, hands in his lap. The last part of what he'd said was obviously about what he'd asked Cora about earlier that morning. The him stopping bank robbers and crime-fighting thing. Were he to actually go out and _do it_, a few weeks from now, the 'shitty boyfriend' thing would be a pretty reasonable assumption to try and bring to the table if you were on the outside looking in and happened to read a lot of Spider Man comics. There was always a chance Cora wouldn't feel the same, and even if she did, he'd never have all the time necessary to really be there for her when she needed him. No matter how fast he could blast back and forth across town. 'Going hero' was honestly the last thing he wanted to talk about at the moment though. And he didn't understand why his dad had decided to introduce something so unimportant and non-serious in such a dramatic fashion.

He blinked, frowned for a split second, then flopped right back down onto the couch and closed his eyes, disappointed. He'd been hoping maybe he'd be able to get some good advice. Or at least a confidence boosting compliment or two.

"Dad…. the only reason I asked her what she'd think about me doing something like that is because I wanted to know how she felt about me before I said anything."

Tenma tapped his pipe again and started to refill, silky black brows bunched together in concentration over the two tasks he was currently trying to tackle. Having a smoke and trying to figure out what it was he was supposed to say to his son next. He could always just apologize. Apologize and go sit in his study and watch old soap operas from the fifties for the rest of the day. No. That would just make him look even _more_ socially inept. But what the hell could he really say to him? How was he supposed to give advice about things like this? It wasn't _anything at all_ like talking to a twenty-five year old banking intern at a bar about some dusty piece he was trying to wax after you'd had a few. And it wasn't anything like trading stories with washed out old man Elefun either…queer though he might be. This was his son. And he was interested in a _real_ girl. A nice girl. Who had a good head on her shoulders. At least from what he could gather seeing them interact with one another.

Tenma cleared his throat and looked up from the least important of the two things he was doing, navy blue eyes reflecting his son's silhouette. Best to just go with best line he could think of to recover from his latest communicative debacle.

"I imagine…I imagine she likes you…somewhat."

Astro's rolled over onto his side. This time with his back facing toward his dad. Why had he had to be cursed with the most conversationally awkward man in the universe for a father? It was nice that he was at least _trying_. Seeing as how a month or two ago, all it would have been was a grunt and a sneer...but…jeeze. _'I imagine she likes you __**somewhat**__ ?'_

He sighed, and after another minute, rolled back over to face him again.

"We're you like this with mom, too?"

Tenma looked away, slumping down in his chair slightly, the corners of his mouth angled downward, forearms and hands gripping the arm rest's tightly in his trademarked, defensive sitting posture.

"Cut me a break boy. I'm still getting used to this whole 'communication' thing."

"It's not that hard dad. I just need you to give me some girl advice. You're…how old?"

"Thirty-seven."

"Thirty-seven! You have _lots_ of experience with women by now, don't you?"

Astro sat up, head tilted to the side. Looking imploringly at his father.

Tenma looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. Pretty much squinting now. Those big brown eyes of his. His mother's eyes. She used to be able to convince him to do just about anything with that look. And when Astro had been younger..or rather…when _Toby_ had been younger…he'd used it on him as well to get him to buy things he wanted from the toy store. And _now_ he was using it to try to pump him for information about women. He wanted to know about girls? Fine. He'd tell him all about them. Everything his thirty-seven years as a member of the male sex had taught him. He grinned, and his eyes started to take on that dark, hooded, mischievous look his employee's up at the Ministry so feared. Business before pleasure, however. There were a few things he wanted to try to take care of before he sat down and discussed the birds and the bees.

Astro dropped his 'look at how cute I am' face completely upon seeing the new expression on his father's face, and went back to trying to look like disappointed and bored. That look never meant anything good. He needed to remind himself next time not to ham it up so much when he was fishing for advice about something, else he end up with more on his plate than he bargained for.

"We'll discuss my experiences with women later. Right now…why don't we run off into the kitchen for a bit and do a little prep-work for our big debut tomorrow? Hmm?"

Astro gulped a little and nodded, a pale blue blush creeping up onto his cheeks from the water and blue core energy circulating through him. Maybe he ought to have waited and asked Dr. Elefun instead. This up-coming _talk_ didn't seem like it was going to end well. Not for him leastways.

**Emily Niele**

One thirty in the morning. Her cut off time. And oh did it feel good to finally be slipping her sweaty, aching feet out of those tennis shoes. Never..ever…over the course of her entire thirty-four years of living had she been this _sick_ of hearing the voices of other people. She was lying on the couch in her living room, stretched out to full length, eyes closed, hand's to her sides, listening to, and appreciating the relative quiet.

Tomorrow it would all be over. It would all be back in Robert's hands. He'd walk out in his blue suit…eyes and cheeks infused with good health and vitality…introduce himself to Tenma and Astro..and to the people of Metro City..and all would be well. She would go back to her old job of being his right-hand woman, Secretary of State. And finally, after several long months of neglect…she would get to do all the nice 'pampery' things for herself that she'd dreamed about doing when she'd been busy running the city. Things like getting a pedicure, or a deep tissue massage. Or actually having time enough to thoroughly wash her hair during a bath. And sleeping too. She was most definitely looking forward to the sleep she would be catching up on. Just thinking about it…sleeping for more than six hours a night, made the normally very stoic Emily, grin like she'd just escaped out of a maximum security prison with the Warden's keys in her teeth. A thought came to her and her euphoric mood faltered…and sort of…deflated. This was a sure thing wasn't it? Sure it was. At least she hoped so.

She looked down at her dried, yellowed, and cracked toe nails, and at the steadily rising black and purple blisters garnishing the tops and bottoms. The last time she'd visited the so-called Commander and Chief, he'd moved from the homey, butter colored interior of his den to the more austere and formal environment of his office and layover quarters at the government building. He'd been smiling and happy. Ready to get to work. And work he had. Though not exactly in the way she and everyone else in his cabinet had been expecting him to. He 'd spent most of his time looking over ledgers, and looking out the window at the construction taking place, and the slow, but gradual reduction, of refugee tents in the square and various alleyways. It had taken a lot of time, and patience, and screaming in the faces of landlords and company heads..but for about a week and a half how…apartment building's and home's for rent in various neighborhoods had been opening their doors to new tenants due to a good deal of forceful pushing during Emily's temporary regime. What was _supposed _ to be a temporary regime anyway. There was reason to doubt it on the one hand, and just the mere thought of having another day like today made her whole body ache.

Robert had done nothing but stand idly by without saying a single word when two businessmen from a major oil company had come in to speak to them in person concerning damage that had been done to their distillery during the Peacekeeper conflict. They'd been rude. Blatantly disrespectful. Spitting chewing tobacco juice into the potted plants, banging their fists on the desk top, and demanding that something be done about the last little remaining damage done to their factory. They'd even had the audacity to try to threaten her. She, Emily Niele, newest Champion of the Downtrodden. And it wasn't until security had finally had to be called that Rob finally said or did anything without expressly asking her opinion beforehand, which was another thing that worried her. It was never _'I'm going to do this.'_ Or _'I'm going to do that.' _since he'd come back. It was perfectly natural for him to want to ask questions about things seeing as how he hadn't been able to be on the forefront of anything for a while, but the way he was going about it wasn't at all as take charge as it ought to be. But then again..maybe she was being overly sensitive. Maybe he was just feeling a little overwhelmed still. It was a lot afterall..being president. Not only did you have to contend with the people's displeasure at the decisions _you_ made…but you also had to try to make up for the mistakes of your predecessor. It wasn't a job for the faint of heart. Yes. Oversensitivity was all it was. It had been too long since she'd had time to worry about anything else and she was being too quick to judge someone else's methods without really thinking about them. Rob was going to step up and do his job just like he'd promised the people of Metro City he would all those months ago. He'd just needed a brief reprieve in order to get himself together. Tomorrow, everything would be fine, and he would be back to his old self.

Emily sat up, smiling. Yawned, then turned and stood her way up off the couch, stretching, and shaking all the kinks out of her joints. It was time for a bath. A nice, long, hot bubble bath with strawberry scent salts. And then, provided she didn't end up doing it in the tub, a good hard snooze in her queen size bed with the covers pulled up to her shoulders.

**Robert Logan**

Ten and a half billion. She'd only used ten and half billion dollars out of the entire _eighty_ she'd had at her disposal. And it had all been used in the appropriate manner. Not a single cent was wasted. No traces of laundering. Nothing. Not a single mistake or blemish in her entire time acting as temporary replacement for him. No social fopaux committed during meetings with other politicians or officials…not even a rumor of her sleeping around with anyone or having an eating disorder in any of the news front tabloids. She was the perfect politician. No. That couldn't be. He needed to look over these numbers again. Re-read the news articles. There had to be _something_ Emily had gotten wrong. _Something_ she hadn't already beaten him to the punch on. Something he could do to get his name out there. To get people interested in getting to know the _real_ President. The _real_ Robert Logan.

Dianna Marie Logan, wife, and first lady, had been shuffling from room to room all day with their two children in an effort to keep them out of his way, and was now seated across from him in one of the large, brown and oak leather chairs they had had in their living room, reading a copy of Cosmopolitain and occasionally glancing over at him out of the corner of her eye. Always trying her hardest not to look worried or frazzled in anyway in case it made his condition of the previous few weeks suddenly decide to come back. She looked a good bit like him physically, and had a lot of the same personality traits as he did, at least where it counted anyway, save for a few, key differences. She was tall and dark haired. He was short, stocky and fair haired. She was nervous and fidgety and noticed things other people didn't. Robert tended to take things for their face value only. Her eyes were grey. A deep irony sort of grey, a trait inherited by both thier kids. His were a watery washed out blue. She had thick skin and could let peoples disparaging comments about something she happened to do or say incorrectly, go. He couldn't. Which was why, right now, he was sitting over across the room working up a sweat over Emily's emmaculate book keeping skills. He was upset he'd had that nervous breakdown and had taken so long to recover. Upset that her name was the only one people knew. And terrified that anything he tried to do from tomorrow morning on would be forever overshadowed by someone else's achievements.

Dianna closed the magazine in her lap and squared up her lips and eyebrows so she was displaying more neutral emotions than what she was actually feeling, and said, "Rob, you've got a big day tomorrow. It's pretty late. Don't you think you oughta be trying to get in these last six—seven hours while you've got the chance?"

He didn't look up, just nodded curtly in response to her question, idly running his fingers through the sad looking dirty blonde bangs hanging over his face. His shoulders sagged with fatigue and he sat back in his chair, eyes watering up from staring at printed type in low light for so long.

"I should, and I will, but…I want to ask you something first. About me."

Mrs. Logan stood up, blinking slowly, knowing what was coming, and wishing for all she was worth that there was some way to avoid it.

"Do you think I should resign?"

Dianna started her way toward the stair landing, working on twisting her hair up into a braid as she did so. Fishing for compliments. He was always fishing for compliments! Always looking for other people's approval in everything he did. She'd never understood it. He could charm anyone into doing anything he wanted them to do when he really set his mind to it. He was an impeccable dresser, a wonderful father, and a loving husband. And when it came to his political ambitions he was as honest and forthcoming a man as you could find anywhere. His only problem was that he lacked confidence in his ability to get things done. Especially when he was constantly being met with people whom it seemed could do so much better. Part of her wanted to tell him yes. Resign and let Emily take care of it all. See if he couldn't possibly barter for the head of the Board of Education job. All the running around and answering questions and being on T.V all the time didn't seem to bother _Emily_ at all. _He_ was the one who had a wife and kids to come home to at the end of the day. She was young. Still in her early thirties and wasn't prone to anxiety attacks and night sweats. Dianna looked over her shoulder, frowning at her husband. If she told him that…that she thought Emily was more fit for duty than he was…he'd curl up into him-self just like he had before. Only this time it would be the loss of his manhood he'd be reduced to tears over.

Robert looked up at his wife after waiting a good minute for an answer to his question, a very serious…and very apathetic look on his face. The low light in the room made it possible for her to see the little blades of grey hair sticking up in the stubble on his chin and the one or two flecks of it on the top of his head. Looked like he'd managed to gain another forehead wrinkle while pouring over those books too. Best to keep it simple and not give him too much else to think about. Dianna stopped fiddling with the strands of hair in her hands, turned, placed one hand on the stair banister, and smiled her most convincing smile...radiating false matronly confidence.

"I think you should do whatever you think is best for yourself and the family, dear."

Robert nodded, then went back to looking around the room and occasionally yawning and mumbling things to himself. Dianna stood up on the landing a moment. Not long. Just for another few minutes to see if anything would change or if he would ask her anything else. He didn't, and she went on about her nightly business. Feeling secure in the answer she'd given. Never thinking for a second that he'd picked up anything other than the goodly spousal support she'd thought she'd done such a good job of portraying in her act. As soon as he heard the door close up stairs, Robert looked down at the piles of paper sitting in front of him on the coffee table and pushed them off onto the other side with the tip of his pointer finger. Disdainfully, as if they were nothing but crumpled up, used, Kleenexes. He needed to get cracking on a new speech before he got too tired and fell asleep. President Niele was going to need to have something to say to her public tomorrow.

**Cora**

"What is it exactly that you like about him Cora?"

"I dunno…everything I guess."

"So…you're actually _attracted_ to him? Even knowing what he is on the inside?"

Cora frowned and turned away. Not particularly liking the way the current conversation was going. She and her mother had been discussing the ins and outs of her crush on Astro since she'd gotten home..and it was just as awkward as all the other times. They were sitting on the couch, half-eaten, now cold potatoes and chicken breasts in front of them in front of them on the coffee table next to mugs of over-sugary, weak, tea. The T.V was fuzzing in the background due to the sattlelite on the roof having been out for the past two days. It was on really just as background noise because they couldn't get used to sleeping without the sound of it.

Cora pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Trying to think about the answer to the question she'd just been asked. It such a weird thing to even consider. Finding a robot physically attractive? Did he think _she_ was pretty? Do robots even think about stuff like that? And out of all of the question's she asked him the night before..why hadn't she thought about asking that one! Then again….looking back…all his answers to the question's had been….pretty uninteresting ones. Stuff normal people…_human people_ would likely use as a response.

_**-Flashback-**_

"_**Cora…c'mon. I'm really not that different from you when it comes to stuff like that.."**_

"_**But you don't have a brain..so like…doesn't that mean you don't have the same idea's about what's inappropriate and appropriate like regular people do?"**_

_**The faint sound of a car skidding on the road could be heard in the background coming from Astro's 52 inch flat screen T.V set in between the two windows in front of his bed. They'd been playing Mario Kart 64 for about an hour now. And Cora had long since gotten bored with it. Astro was still playing. Just not actually looking at the screen for the sake of being a polite host and giving her his full attention. Or rather..98.9% of it. Two percent of his concentration and only half of one of his Core Energy was all he needed to keep Luigi in the lead and dodge turtle shells and banana peels from opposing drivers. He furrowed his eyebrows in irritation at the 'no brain' comment.**_

"_**I DO have a brain Cora. Just..not…like yours…or my dads. Mine is electronic." **_

_**Cora stuffed a handful of Cheetoh's into her mouth after letting out a loud smelly burp. Astro scrunched up is nose and looked away. She KNEW he could smell and hear that a thousand times more than the average person! Why for the love of god did she keep doing it?**_

"_**Which means fwhat?"**_

"_**It MEANS that if you burp in my face one more time—I'll use my finger laser to write my name on your butt!"**_

"_**Okay! Sorry! Now answer my question about yer' 'lectronic bwain!"**_

_**Astro sighed and put down the game controller, trying to rub the smell of cheese, throw up and NowAndLater's out of his nostrils. Letting Luigi's cart slide into the back of Princess Peach and effectively running them both off the road.**_

"_**It's…really small okay?"**_

"_**Your brain?.."**_

"_**Yeah. It's about the size of your pinky finger. Maybe smaller. And it..from what my dad tells me…is the reason why I'm..still me. I guess."**_

"_**Oh…how can you put a personality into something that TINY? And where…in your um..'body' is it?"**_

"_**In my chest..near where my kidney's used to be."**_

"_**So…it's not in your head?"**_

"_**No."**_

_**Cora blinked at him in confusion, suddenly felt uncomfortable looking at him, and started surveying the snack bowl in front of her. Why wouldn't a person's brain be placed in their head? And if everything was in his chest cavity…what was in his head? Could he still move around without it? And what he'd said about his personality. It's on a computer chip…so does that make him..fake somehow? An awkward robotic copy of…what was his real name again..Tobio Tenma? **_

_**Cora reached slowly into the bowl on the side with the Chex Mix and picked up a few, then glanced back up at Astro. He was still rubbing his nose around and looking at her. Only this time when she looked in his eyes she saw a little more than just general irritation at the funky smell radiating in the air. He looked sorta….sad. How was it he even KNEW when he was supposed to be sad? Or feel any emotion at all? And why did she suddenly feel the urge to kiss him on the forehead? So many questions. And so little time it seemed to ask them. Maybe that..and the look on his face was an indication that it was time to stop and try a little later.**_

"_**Huh…that's..cool."**_

"_**I guess."**_

_**Cora jumped…and let out a loud squeak, feeling some kind of air blowing her shirt and hair around and looked up behind her to see the other robot. Whose name Astro said was 'Nora' floating over her. Looking all…pink. And menacing.**_

_**Astro laughed. "Yeah Nora?"**_

_**-Flashback End-**_

No. Nothing really all that interesting at all. And just thinking that made her feel guilty.

Cora scratched her head, and then peered back over at Demimia. Who, as always, no matter what going on, when she was away from work, as cool as cucumber in her ratty oil-stained over-all's. Cora looked back down at her toes and proceeded to pick at the chipping toe-nail polish on them. Physically…what did she like about Astro? It was a question that had to be asked. No matter how just plain odd it was. Because she was sure..now more than ever…that she liked him. As more than a friend. What type of guys had she looked at _before_ he came along? Guy's with dark hair. That was one thing. And then..

Cora's face visibly reddened and she put her face in her hands to hide it. She didn't have the patience to sit around trying to think about this anymore. It was just.._stupid_!

"So…I take that as yes then?"

Cora grunted irritably.

Demimia chuckled, shook her head, and stood up. Wiping the crumbs off her shirtfront, and tossing the long braid she usually kept her hair in back behind her shoulder.

"I don't care, Cora."

Cora sniffed loudly and looked back up, blowing a pink, straggely strand of hair out of her mouth.

"Care about what?"

"You having the hot's for robo-boy."

"Can you _please_ stop reminding me of that?"

Demimia unhooked one of the straps of her over-all's, yawned, and started walking off towards her bedroom.

"It seem's to me hun..that _you're_ the one that keeps reminding herself what he is. Or rather what he _isn't. _You consider yourself to be all young and progressive and whatnot. Listening to loud music an' pissing off our landlord…have you ever stopped to think that maybe the rhyme or the reason for him functioning the way he does doesn't matter? And that you're stressing yourself out trying to _not_ be interested in the boy?"

"That's the thing mom—he's _not _a _boy _really. I don't even know if he…if he's…you know."

"Anatomically correct?"

"Yeah…that."

"Does it matter? If you ask me, you're too young for that sort of thing anyway."

"I just-."

"You just _what_ Cora honey? If you like him…you like him. Do you ever ask yourself why it is you like the television so much?"

"No.."

"Then there you go!"

Cora went back to staring at the bad paint job on her feet, and a second later, she heard the door snap shut, and the sound of her mother getting undressed and tossing her clothes in the laundry basket she kept in the corner. She was right. She usually always was. What did it matter what he was made of so long as he was around and treated her the same? Who's to say she'd have liked him anymore or any less when he was a regular kid? Who's to say he was even really the _same _as he was back then? He coulda been an asshole for all she knew.

Cora stood up off the couch after a little bit, and picked up her and her mom's left over's and sat them over in the microwave for in the morning. Out the kitchen window, she could only just make out the far off window lights of all the rich, hoity-toity people living in Astro's neighborhood. Tomorrow was the day he was supposed to meet the President. Tomorrow also happened to be a Friday. A good day…as far as cheap romance novels were concerned..to tell someone you liked them. Cora shrugged, went off to her room, and shut the door. Worst came to worst…he'd say something really awkward when she told him and they'd avoid each other for a while. Yeah. She could tell him. No problem. No problem at all. She hoped.

_**A/N:**_ Hope you guys enjoyed that. Now, on to right the final chapter. Chapter Ten. This didn't come out exactly as I'd thought it would. I had a lot of trouble with coming up with ideas for it. Hopefully it'll be easier next go round. Remember guys. You're free to ask me questions about anything you don't understand.

-BerryCoffeeCake


	10. Chapter 10: Rise and Climax Part 1

((A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for not updating in forever. I know how much it's overdue…and again I sincerely apologize for having taken so long. But a lot of personal stuff things came up. Plus, I've recently gotten pretty heavy into the Sonic Fandom. So I don't think after this I'll be writing anymore Astro Boy stuff for a while. And it sucks! Cuz I had SO many ideas for a sequel for this possibly. But alas…man is fickle. Gonna split this up into two parts. Hence the title. Anyway, enjoy the last and final chapter of "Lifted", and be sure to check out some of my other stuff coming soon to AFF and MediaMiner!—

BerryCoffeeCake))

**Chapter Ten: "Rise and Climax"**

**Nora and Astro**

Snow? In October? That had to be a bad sign.

Astro stood nervously on the porch, leaning over the wooden railing, chin rested on folded arms, watching the tiny little flakes of snow flutter down to meet the still mostly green bushes in his front yard. It was around six thirty in the morning, and the patch of sky he was so avidly peering into was a deep crimson, dotted with heavy purplish-gray clouds. His dad would be up soon. Walking down the steps in those sweaty, expensive, silk pajamas Astro'd always hated as a kid and fussing at Nora to brew him a pot of coffee. All while staring down into the screen of his cell phone, and dialing poor old Dr. Elefun's number so he could badger him as well.

He turned up the sensitivity on his hearing, and sure enough, picked up the sound of his father shuffling around his bedroom upstairs. He WOULD wake up thirty minutes early on a day like today. On a day when so many things could go wrong—a day when so many things had the _potential_ to go wrong. Today was the day he was going to be introduced to both the President and the entire populace of Metro-City….and he wasn't the least bit excited about it. Anything could happen. He knew that now. Especially after having been through everything he'd been through at Hamegg's. There were people in the world who really, honest and truly, did not see robots as intellectual emotional equals. In any capacity. What if they threw tomato's at him?! What if they threw…spare change or something?! Or his dad mistakenly made some rude comment about how shabby everyone else's clothes were over the microphone? Why…why couldn't he just have been let to rest in peace when he died?

Forehead collided with porch banister just as the screen door creaked open and Nora stuck her large, shiny pink head out.

"Dr. Tenma wishes for you to come in and get ready.", she said, engine's puffing and whirring away in an attempt to try to analyze his emotional pulses. To no avail however….and when he turned around walked listlessly into the house, smiling apologetically at her, the pink house bot felt an odd sensation ripple through her circuit boards. She'd been built to be useful to her masters. Clean things they didn't want to clean or couldn't clean….cook when they didn't know how have the inclinations to….and even console them when they were upset with all manner of compliments as to the affect their 'dazzling' smile had on those around them. Or in Little Master Tenma's case…how much his father..and many other's really did love and appreciate him. Now though…it was virtually impossible for her to really say or do anything for him….because technically…he was no longer her master. He no longer had a heart-beat. Brainwaves…nothing. Hardly even any electrical pulses save for when he was using his new abilities to do things….which as a robot herself, Nora found very impressive. Never in her entire life upon leaving the box she'd been packaged in had she known of a robot able to withstand the amount of abuse he had and not fall to pieces. She didn't know of any other robot..save for robot's like the flight attendants and other famous robot's from around the world that looked as human as he did either. Which was the current source of conflict between the two of them.

Sometimes…Nora really couldn't tell the difference between the young boy she once took care of…and the super-powered robot built to replace him, and since Tenma and Astro had come home..had tried on several occasions to get him to eat and drink things. Often threatening to tell a bewildered and irritable Umataro that he was refusing meals. That, or trying to run baths for him at night.

Astro stopped for a moment and attempted a stretch. More out of habit than necessity, and continued his way on into the living room. Then up the glossy, dark wood stairs, Nora following all the way, using her wireless systems to turn on all the lights in the house they'd likely need to get ready. Bathroom lights, dress closet lights..of which his father was the only owner, and then the kitchen lights for breakfast. She also went on ahead with turning on his bedroom light. Even though just before turning the door knob he'd said not to…and it was at that point…for the second time in his life…Astro hit a wall emotionally and quickly stepped in and slammed the door in the pink house-bot's face, feeling bad almost immediately after. Nora…just didn't understand and couldn't tell the difference. It wasn't her fault. Not entirely anyway. She was old.. and a lot less advanced than him too, but still. It was _annoying_! _"Master Tenma you __**MUST**__ bathe! Right this instant or I'll get the Dr.!" "Toby do this!" "Toby you'd better be sure to eat this or I'll report it to your father!"—_Enough was enough already. He was a robot. His old body was long gone…buried in a cemetery somewhere. He'd come to terms with it. And to a certain extent…though it didn't really seem like it sometimes…his dad had come to terms with it too. Why couldn't Nora?!

Having already laid out what it was he planned to wear that day…black jeans, sneakers, white t-shirt, and a baseball cap, he set about putting it all on as quickly as possible. Still not quite at ease with some of the other issues being a robot afforded him. Such as not having…er…body hair. Anywhere. Not even on the arm pits or legs. That…and having what looked like a..a..deflated balloon hooked onto a twist cap apparatus for genetalia. The pants were always the _first _thing to go on. Save for underwear. And part of him didn't really even want to put those on. He'd been wanting to upgrade to boxers since he'd been eight years old but had always been told no on account of them somehow lowering…sperm count. Astro grimaced at the thought and looked embarrassedly at him-self in the mirror. Wearing tighty-whities.

"He just does this to me to be cruel. I _know_ that's what it is. I don't think _he _even wears these!"

His hearing picked up a muffled grumble from downstairs, and then the whizzy noises of Nora going back forth over the living room carpet. Likely serving coffee to Dr. Elefun who sniffed loudly upon walking in and seeing how heavily decked out in cream and silks his colleague was.

There was a long pause, and then after a couple of heady sips of warm, caffeinated beverage, another sniff.

"You look like an Atlantic City pimp."

"And you look like an overweight, elderly man with a large nose and scuffed up church shoes."

Sniff.

A dark chuckle.

"Good morning Elefun."

"Good morning Tenma."

Astro tuned out and stripped off the underwear…thinking how horrible it would be should anyone he knew see him wearing them. Thinking how utterly humiliating it was going to be standing next to someone in front of millions of people with more buttons on their suit than Steve Harvey. Why oh why had god decided to curse him with the world's flashiest dresser for a father? Whatever happened to just plain old loafers, dress pants and a friggin' shirt?!

He smoothed out his t-shirt in the mirror, and then after bending down to tie up his shoes…..took a minute to look at himself and around his room, which was still mostly pretty messy from the past couple of days events. That, and not letting Nora in to clean due to his irritation with her. Which, now he thought about it…he kind of felt bad for. Nora..wasn't like him. And he wasn't anything _at all_ like her. They were built for different purposes and in very different ways. She wasn't _capable_ of understanding…at least from what his dad had told him the many time's he'd complained about it….the level of technology that went into making him look and act as human as he did. She could read him over of course and discern he had no heart beat or brain waves…but like a child that looks at a puppy in a shop window and reminisces about the one that ran away…or in Nora's case…..reminiscing about the little boy who went away…leaving her alone for almost two years…she couldn't help but be drawn to trying to mother and fuss him to death. Astro sighed, adjusted his baseball cap, and went back over to his bedroom door and opened it, where a fidgety Nora was still hovering just outside, a light steam shooting out of the sides of her large pink head. Who was it that said robots didn't have emotions again?

He smiled apologetically at her and stepped over to the side, opening the door wider so she could get in. She brushed past, giving him a good ten minute lecture on why it was impolite to slam doors, then proceeded to clean the perfect sty that was him room. Hoses and extended hands going a mile a minute wiping the windows and cleaning the food stains out of his carpet with her built in floor steamer.

A thought struck him as he walked down into the foyer where Dr. Elfin, and a very impatient Dr. Tenma were both standing waiting for him…dressed in what they considered to be their Sunday best.

Living with Nora, and having her follow him around as she'd always done, doting on him and scolding him…taking care of him when he was sick…and cleaning up after him…was probably a lot like what it would've been like to have his mother around. Had she lived? And when you looked at it that way…there was no way he could _ever_ say he wasn't grateful for her having been built for him. Especially now he was a robot himself. What was more fitting than a robot mom?

**Cora**

Bacon and eggs for breakfast? Or Coffee and toast? Black t-shirt? Or purple t-shirt? Jeans…or a skirt? Demimia…being the more practical….and much less frazzled of the two…stepped forward and made all of these decisions for her. And Cora waited at the kitchen bar in her underwear patiently watching nervously as the wrinkles were slowly ironed out of her clothes, which consisted of a pale green t-shirt and a pair of black capris.

She'd already eaten breakfast…toast, coffee, and, to balance things out and give some color to her face her mother said, some bacon. All of which had been exceedingly tasty…but slowly consumed due to poor nerves until finally, Demimia had been forced to actually eat some of it herself.

The T.V was on in the background, and the news anchors were only just beginning to discuss this morning's upcoming speech from the President and the subsequent introduction of the little robot boy who held both her daughter's, and most likely unbeknownst to him, the affections of a good majority of the people of Metro City. Before then it had all been about Emily Neile's sudden rise to the seat of power...and Robert Logan's sudden choice to be tossed out of it. That was something else that worried Cora, who was now looking over her shoulder back at the television in earnest.

Now there was someone else in charge, what would that mean for Astro? Up until now, she'd never really cared to watch the news. It was always the same old stuff. Someone got shot. Someone was at war. Somebody got robbed..etc..etc. Same old same old. But this was different. That Emily woman could very well be another Stone. Another power hungry, ego-maniacal maniac looking to keep herself in power for as long as possible. Granted…you never heard anything on the news about her trying to do anything that _wasn't_ positive unless it was from a competitor or someone who just critical anyway(*cough* Nancy Grace *cough*), but still. You could never be too sure. Astro's dad had looked pretty prim and proper she'd thought upon first meeting him too. But then later on…after the series of weird comments he'd made…the horror. In the box.

She put her face in her hands and shivered. "Ugh."

Demimia made a noise of recognition, and Cora glanced back up at her, looking through her fingers, an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Yeah?"

"What're you over there being fussy about now? Still wondering whether your first kiss'll be with a robot or not?"

"Aw gahd! I _wasn't_—not at first-but now you've actually mentioned it-!"

Demimia finished ironing Cora's clothes, and sat them neatly down on the bar table in front of her, grinning and shaking her head. Watching with interest and hilarity as her fidgety fourteen year old bemoaned the pangs of youth. There was a lot, that as mother, she wanted to sit down and explain to her…a lot of advice she wanted to give…but in this situation…she just wasn't sure exactly where all of it applied. The only forseeable danger was that she could be hurt emotionally…and even that wasn't really particularly a big deal. He was…a robot. At least he couldn't just love her and leave her as a normal man would be wont to do. Or knock her up and disappear without ever being heard from again. Either of those would be significantly worse than just having hurt feelings for a couple weeks. That, she was _more than confident_ Cora could bounce back from.

"Calm down Cora and put your clothes on!", she laughed. "I doubt he'll be thinking about kissing you or doing anything else what with all _he's_ got going on."

Cora hopped down off the stool she was sitting on and grabbed at the t-shirt, sliding it on over her head, not seeing the joke, watching as her mother rounded the corner and headed to her bedroom. Her baggy, cotton night clothes which were bunched awkwardly around her rear area, un-crinkled and elongated the rest of the way in the back. A clear indication of an individual who kept their butt clenched too tightly.

After she was gone, and Cora was fully dressed, she went into her room to assemble a small pack of stuff she figured she'd need for the day, and then went and looked at herself in the mirror. Still mulling over the comment her mother'd made about Astro having too much going on in his life to have time to think about kissing her. She looked nice. As nice as you could get on a budget anyway. And she couldn't remember the last time she'd ever worn her hair in a ponytail. Probably like…thousands of years ago.

If it were _her_..despite having to stand on a platform before thousands of people….and possibly millions of others at home watching on T.V…_she'd_ think about it.

"…."

Nah. That was just vanity talking. Cora slipped her shoes on. A pair rather ratty looking red tennis shoes, and headed out the door. Hopefully she would be able to get to the square before it got too crowded.


	11. Chapter 10: The Spine of Atlas Part 2

**((A/N:** Hey again guys! Here's part two of the very last chapter of "Lifted". It's been a lot of fun….and believe it or not…a lot of mental anguish on my part…writing this. Grant it…no one ever gave me a set deadline…and I don't make any money at all from the publishing of this story, but it still means a lot to me to give out the absolute best I possibly can when writing for an audience. And you guys have been the best anyone could ever ask for. In some people's eyes….44 reviews may not be a lot..but for someone like me who love's getting praise it may as well be a million! Happy reading and thanks a bunch guys! All of you!**-BerryCoffeeCake))**

**Chapter Ten: Part Two: "The Spine of Atlas"**

**Emily **

"_All that __**money**__ Robert!? All those millions of dollars you spent campaigning!?—You're just going to lay waste to it all?! Throw all of that time and effort down the drain?!"_

'Good luck today.'

Emily sighed, stuck her cell phone back down into her purse after reading the message she'd just received, and peered up at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. The bag's under her eye's…and the crow's feet she hadn't known had begun to materialize until that day, were all steadily disappearing under the layers and layers of pale peach powder's her make up stylist was currently applying to have her T.V ready in the next couple of hours. Her hair…a couple of hours ago…dull and lifeless as ever had taken on new shape in the woman's capable hands and…though she didn't want to admit it..really did look better hanging down around her shoulder's rather than up in a tight bun like she used to keep it.

"So is it really true?..President Logan resigned?"

She flinched slightly, feeling a hairpin scrape a particularly sensitive area in the back, and leaned forward to grab at the complementary cup of coffee she'd been offered upon coming in. That morning when she'd gotten up, she'd been far too tired, and far too irritable to consider doing anything to get ready for the speech she was now tasked with giving other than throw on her track suit and tennis shoes and wash her hair. And maybe…just MAYBE throwing on a pair of earrings. And had it not been for Rob's wife calling her that morning after the massive tongue lashing she'd given him the night before, she'd have done just that.

Clarice…the woman currently standing behind her, pricking her poor abused scalp with pin after pin..timidly asked the question once again and had just about given up in getting a response when Emily cleared her throat loudly and gave a quick nod.

"Yes."

She smiled warmly and patted Emily's shoulder in congratulation, her round face dimpling appreciatively, and said just about the same thing everybody else had said once they'd heard the news that she'd be taking over permanently.

"I'm so glad! I voted for him originally because when I heard him speak….it filled me with a lot of hope for the future you know? All the talk about Peace and better environmental and financial practices….fixing the schools. But once he got in…he didn't actually DO anything! But you—."

The make-up artist nodded in agreement…the younger of the two, as she carefully applied a light amount of blush to Emily's cheeks, adding some much needed color to her face. She was taller and thinner than Clarice, with less ethnic features and a more wiry frame.

"I actually remember watching bits and pieces of some of the debates last year. You scared the pants off Stone as soon as he came on stage for round two…just by looking at him. Everybody saw it! It was hilarious! I actually think it was an Internet Meme for a while y'know? Like the um..whaddaya call it? Me-gusta face thing."

Emily frowned. Thinking back to all of the hideous things she'd seen on the inter-webs concerning her-self and various other's due to that election. And all the things she probably _would_ end up seeing due to her new position. The fake sex tapes. The parody porns. The YouTube dance video's…not to mention the Fail compilations that would be uploaded by every opposing politician's teenage son or computer savvy daughter that she would have to put up with _on top_ of all her responsibilities as President. And then there was the stress. The horrible stress of everything she had to do..needed to do…and wanted to do that kept her awake when she was only subbing a few days ago and would likely continue to keep her awake for many more years to come as she continued on.

She looked in the mirror at her-self once again. At the happy, fake shine in her hair. The now non-existent bags, dark circle's and crow's feet…the ruby red paste on her lips keeping them from looking pale and chapped as they normally would from not having the time to properly care for herself. Part of her wanted to jump for joy. Rejoice in the fact that she would now have regular appointments with professional hair dressers, stylists and make-up artists. Receive pedicures and manicures on a regular basis and have the treasury of an entire city—worth billions of dollars at her disposal and park in any spot she wanted without getting a ticket. The other part of her…the more practical..sane part….told her she should be afraid. That she should run out of the Salon right now, screaming and snatching the curls out of her hair. Feigning madness so they'd put her away in some asylum somewhere so she could be worry free. But then she'd be no better than Rob. And at the thought of him…sitting at home, lying on the couch, sniveling, curled up under a blanket, whining to his wife about how low he felt…shirking all his responsibilities and laying them to rest in more 'capable hands' as he called them….she got angry again and slammed the luke-warm cup of coffee in her hand back down on the counter in front her.

The last hair pin was slid in. Uncomfortably close to center of her head and Clarice and her assistant pronounced themselves satisfied with the job they'd done. Going on to continue to congratulate her on her recent success's and triumphs. She nodded exasperatedly, standing up and brushing off the fallen ends of dingy colored hair off the front of her shirt. She only had a couple of hours left until she had to go and meet Dr. Tenma and Astro in the Presidential Office across town. No more time to contemplate whether she really wanted to go through with any of it or not. The decision..unfortuneatley…had already been made for her.

**Astro, Emily and A Million Others**

They'd been sitting just outside the presidential office door for about an hour now…waiting..waiting…and waiting, for said doors to be opened. Dr. Tenma was standing up, pacing back and forth in between the plush leather guest seats, his silk, cream suit, by now, beginning to show signs of wear. Sweat stains under the armpits, wrinkles in his pants, and scuffs in the recently polished dress shoes he'd worn. Dr. Elefun was sitting, as per usual with people his age and activity level, in one of the chairs closest to the receptionist's desk. On which stood a bowl of a variety of fruits, and next to it, a water-cooler with fully stocked cup rack.

And last, but certainly not least, the long suffering hero of the story, Astro, was up over by the window, and with no certain amount of exultation in the expression on his face, looking down into the nearby public square, at the magnitude of people flooding into it. Either sitting, standing or perching on the steps and low roofs of various buildings in the surrounding area.

The drive over had been a lot less eventful and fraught with danger than he'd originally thought, as had been the quick trip to a nearby Denny's to pick up breakfast. Which consisted of eggs, toast, and more strong coffee. None of which, again, he could swallow. Only taste.

Astro sighed…and the area where his stomach would have been, gave a bit of a twitch. Food, and the ability to actually _consume_ it in an instance like this would've been _more_ than welcome. Never in his life had he tried so hard to appear to be not nervous. And what was more…he was pretty sure it wasn't working considering the pitying look Dr. Elefun was giving him over in his corner by the _refreshments. _Christ. Some things never change.

Finally, after what seemed like his eighty-eth revolution around the tiny office space, Tenma sat down, fully extended himself and began rubbing away at his temples with his thumb and forefinger. Peering over in the direction of the short, middle-aged reception woman, he asked the question both he himself, his companions, and everyone waiting for the grand speech outside wanted to know.

"When is all this supposed to get started exactly…Misses..?"

The woman looked up, pushed her spectacles back up onto her face and squinted into them looking to the left of the spot the audaciously dressed man who'd just spoken to her was sitting in. Astro couldn't help but notice the odd way Dr. Elefun was looking at her over the top edge of his newspaper…which…until he looked…really…_really_ looked, he didn't exactly get. He cupped his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing, and went back to staring out the window.

"Johnson. Anne Johnson. And don't worry Mr. Tenma. Things should be underway shortly. It's just things are a little jumbled up 'round here after yesterday. Miss Neile…Emily Neile if you've heard of her, took over the Presidency."

Dr. Tenma's brows furrowed. Not at the news that they wouldn't be getting to meet the fabled Robert Logan, but at the deepness of the voice of the person he was talking to. And all the hair on her arms and five o'clock shadow that he hadn't noticed until that moment. He flashed his elderly colleague a look and received a loud sniff in response meaning 'Say nothing.' But how could he not?! There was a man in a dress with a rapidly thickening _beard_ behind the receptionist's desk! And wearing heels no less!

He sat up.

Heart beating a mile a minute, with a huge smile spreading across the swarthiness that was his face, with every intention of making light of the current situation and bringing some amount of energy and life into the otherwise unbearably stagnant atmosphere that had been oppressing him for so long.

Luckily, just as he was about to part lip with a comment about the shade of lipstick the aforementioned servant of the state was wearing, the long awaited Commander and Chief entered the building. Astro turned round and away from his little observation deck, and stood with a comical expression of sudden surprise on his face. Dr. Elefun laid his paper over in the chair next to him and stood up so quickly his glasses almost tumbled off onto the floor. And Dr. Tenma..last but not least, didn't stand up or look around at all. He just kept staring at the person behind the receptionist's desk. Wondering whether or not he or she would have the diligence to keep up this charade for the remainder of the day.

Emily, looking and feeling more harassed and harried than at any other point in the thirty or so years she'd been alive, quickly shut the door in the faces of her guards and entourage before they could enter,Telling them in a rather terse manner that she'd be done with the business at hand , went on to address the grouping of people in front of her.

Astro was the only who noticed how she was dressed. And the only one who noticed just how much make-up she had smeared all over her face as well, courtesy of his ultra-sensitive sight. His surprise gradually tempered down as she spoke to them at large, and the feelings he'd had before, the nervousness and the feeling of dread at this moment faded away into nothing. Looking her up and down…the glittering diamonds on the pale pink pumps she wore…the huge golden blond bouffant on top of her head, and the silk blazer she had on, which was the same color as her shoes, gave him a much different impression of her than he'd had before. She looked..somehow..a lot less professional and dignified than when she'd come to offer them a deal all those weeks ago. A lot less.._happy,_ too.

"What do mean by '_It's not __**necessary**__ that I come out?'_", Tenma asked, his attention momentarily averted from the previous object of his amusement.

Emily walked over to the double doors of her office, and reached out and patted Astro's shoulder, her back still turned, and smiled at him before answering. Astro smiled back, while privately thinking to himself how good it would be to NOT have heightened senses right then. Her make-up…to him….looked more like a greasy , pore clogging paste with food coloring in it than something to cover up so called 'imperfections'. And to make matters worse… the perfume she was wearing..he could smell the fishy scent of the ambergris used to create it. Way more so than he could the nice pleasant scent of flowers that it was supposed to be giving off. Oh what he wouldn't give to have the ability to get sick and go blind. Then again…maybe she wasn't like all the women he saw on T.V. Maybe she wouldn't ask him how he thought she looked. And what was more, she certaintly seemed to know how to handle his father. What with the disheartened look on his face.

"I mean no offense at all . It's just that….I don't want to give anyone in this city, the feeling that my administration is more interested in giving them a 'show' of power rather than actually exercising it. If you get my meaning."

Dr. Tenma blinked slowly. Giving her a level look, and then looked down at his now wrinkled and sweated out suit. Then proceeded to scratch his chin, checking to see just how much hair he'd missed that morning when trying to shave while half-asleep in the bathroom mirror. Deciding he wasn't really as T.V ready as would have been ideal, he nodded, and leaned back in his chair, peering over at Astro and frowning.

"I get your meaning Miss Neile. I just don't really agree with it. When you walked in here you left all your guard outside. And I expect…as per your usual way of going about things.—Head first that is…that you'll be doing something of the same when you go out and address the public. Which could very well be to the detriment of both yourself _and_ my son."

Emily rolled her eyes. " And fighting a giant robot with the ability to absorb and control anything wasn't in any way shape or form _detrimental_ to him?"

"You know what I—."

"Yes Dr. Tenma. I know what you mean, but I don't necessarily _agree _with _you_ either."

She turned back around, and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"The reason I ask yourself and Dr. Elefun to watch from the crowd is a simple one. And if you'll only listen I think you'll be able to appreciate my logic."

A sniff from Dr. Elefun who was seated back in his chair, peeling an orange he'd gotten out of the fruit bowl on the desk. He didn't seem any more perturbed than usual but when you looked close and spotted that little wrinkle in his forehead, you knew something was up.

Before Emily could continue helping the two scientists to fully understand her 'logic', Astro took the riens of the martyr and said, rather unconvincingly that he was fine with whatever anyone of them decided to do. In reality he'd never been more scared in his life…or felt more put upon.

He entered the office with Emily, found the seat the farthest away from her desk and sat in it. Peering anxiously around the room. It was dim due to the curtains being drawn, and dusty as well though it looked pretty clean. It reminded him a lot of what his own house was like once he and his dad had had the opportunity to move back in. And also felt like a sort of allegory for something that he couldn't put his finger on. The copious amount of make-up on President Niele's face made him feel that way too. Like all the things he'd been thinking and the trials and tribulations he'd gone through to get here could be summed up if he thought hard enough about the stuff he saw on a daily basis. What did gross, greasy face-paint have to do with him having to go outside and stand in front of millions of people though? What do dusty floors have to do with anything? Or empty echoey rooms in a ten room house? Probably nothing. And having reassured himself that he'd have no epiphanies today, Astro slumped down in the chair he was sitting in and assumed a more casual air.

Emily mean-while was rifling through the manilla folders on her desk, looking for the last typed and printed copy of the speech she was to give in fifteen or so minutes time, every now and again looking up to examine the boy robot in front of her. Like everyone else in Metro City..and most people that'd lived on the Surface before now, she'd grown up with robots and excepted them as an integral part of society. Taking note of all the things they're useful for and all the things they have the _potential_ to be used for in the future. Seeing Astro for the first time though, had made her wonder about a lot of things she didn't particularly _like _wondering about. Things that, due to the rough hew of his creator's character, she hadn't felt comfortable asking. Things such as whether or not he still felt that trying to replace his son with a robot was a healthy way of going about things. Or whether Astro himself, though not the original article, felt any animosity toward his father for having done what he did. That is to say if he really could….'feel' in the first place. So many questions. And so little time to get them answered.

"Um…what is it exactly that you want me to do when we get out there ma'am?—Ah..I mean President Neile?"

Emily ghosted over a few of the first lines of the speech, and finding it to be unsatisfactory in pretty much every way a political speech could be, balled it up and threw it in the trash. Who the hell was it Rob had had writing this stuff for him?!

She looked at Astro fully upon having heard his question, furrowed her brows in confusion and a sudden attack of nerves, then rapidly calmed again. Something Astro typically saw his dad do whenever asked about a solution to a particular problem he'd yet to consider. They were a lot alike it seemed. Save for the fact she didn't seem to enjoy expensive clothes as much as he did.

"You don't have to do anything special.", she said as she scribbled something out on a piece of paper and ground a thin, pale, knobby knuckle into her temple. "Unless you want to. To be perfectly honest Astro…"

Astro blinked, listening.

"I really don't care to do this at all. I don't even really want to be in this office right now."

'_Fire and damnation! I __**know **__you're a man! Why not just admit it?!'_

Astro slumped even farther down in his chair, having picked up the conversation going on outside and lost the nonchalant expression that he'd currently held.

He didn't really care a whole lot about going out in front of all those people either…but hearing it from someone else…the very person who'd orchestrated all of it in the first place, made him feel tragically unimportant. As unimportant as he'd felt six months ago. Stuck in a cage behind a garage with oil all over his face and clothes.

She wasn't writing now. Just sort of leaning over on her desk, staring up at the clock on the far wall.

"Can I ask why?", was the lowly spoken reply from Astro.

Emily sighed, and wriggled her nose in an effort to quell the severe itching in her face.

"Because when I got into to Politics…I didn't get into to it because I wanted to be responsible for the safety, security, and comfort of a billion people. I got into it to be responsible for just one. Rob. The man I campaigned with for more than two years."

"Why not just…resign then? If you really don't want the job."

"Because if I resign, there's no one left to take over who has any experience."

And with that, Emily stood up, and folded the little piece of paper in her hand that she'd been writing on and stuck it in her pocket.

Astro stood up as well, gazing at the lady in front of him with wonder and admiration in his chocolate brown eyes.

A long time ago, when he'd been really little, he remembered having gone to see a play at the Metro-City Grand Theatre…sitting on his dads lap as he laughed, smoked cigars over him, and knocked back shots of whiskey like breath mints. And then being violently snatched away by someone with a light, feminine voice, and dark, curly hair. It was the only clear memory he had of his mother. And it was one of the only memories that, weeks ago, he'd gotten his father to elaborate on for him.

In the play they'd gone to see, titled, _"The Spine of Atlas"_, there'd been a sailor, who, on his first voyage after having gone through many trials and tribulations, ended up becoming Captain of the ship he was on against his will and totally by accident. Despite it though, he pushed on and did the best he could with the lot he was given. He did his best to be impartial when trouble arose and provided for his men with the supplies of ships they looted. All the way around the world and back again to their home country, during which time he mollified his dislike of having to take charge by repeating to himself over and over again, "I must do my duty. I _must_. _There is no one else._"

Emily's glum, stern expression reminded him a lot of the face he'd seen on the actor the night of the play, and he couldn't help but think over some of things he'd been thinking. All the talk about being a super hero and protecting people. Astro'd read enough comics..seen enough history documentaries and watched enough cartoons in the short time he'd been around, to know that 'absolute power' really did 'corrupt absolutely'. If anything…Miss Emily Neile…President of Metro City, was more afraid of what her new responsibility would change in her than anything else. Afraid…of breaking Atlas's back..and losing all the people and things she hadn't ever really wanted dominion over anyway. That, and the lack of freedom and privacy that came automatically with her 'Doing her duty.'

So the question he had to ask him-self…knowing all this…was: "Does Tobio Tenma—now known as the super android Astro—want to do his duty?"

The whole way down into the square, and up onto the stage, Astro chewed his lip nervously, and kept his eyes down on his feet. People cheered…unexpectedly for both him, and Emily and he couldn't help but tune in to hear the specifics of what was being said. Most of it…was good. But the stuff that wasn't good..was REALLY not good, and eventually, about the time he got to his place next to Emily's podium..he turned his hearing down as low as it would go in an effort not to hear anymore, which in his case was a futile effort. He could only just make out his dad and Dr. Elefun in the crowd. Both saying how proud they were of him. And yet with a monumental amount of doubt and worry in their voices concerning the situation he was in.

No one out there though, the less enthusiastic members of the crowd that is, did anything. And the speech went over well. Very well. And all he'd had to do was stand there and wave to everyone when she mentioned him at the end. A queue he almost missed when saw Cora in the far back of the crowd of people assembled jumping up and down waving her jacket in the air trying to get his attention.

Maybe…for now…at least just for a _little_ _while,_ he could stave off thinking about what his duty was and when exactly he should get to doing it. He was only thirteen years old. A kid! And what was more…he could think of a lot of other way more enjoyable things he could do with his robotic powers than play 'Batman' to a populace that was only half sure they cared about him being around. If he had to though, he wouldn't neglect to act in their defense again. But only if he _had _to. The rest of his days would be spent, hopefully….in other pursuits.

That is if the girl he was staring at out in the crowd…felt the same way as he did. And if all the magazines he'd read about signals you could use to tell if a girl likes you were right, he'd be taking Cora flying tomorrow morning.

**((A/N: **Well…we've finally gotten to the end. The end of 'Lifted' an Astro Boy fanfic I've been writing on and off for about two years now. The longest I've ever worked on any one project in my life. And believe me…as scatter-brained as I am, that's saying something! As far as this last chapter goes…reading through it…I'm not exactly confident that you guy's will enjoy it as much as you did my other chapters, but I hope that you do. Some of you will no doubt be disheartened by the fact that I didn't add an ending romance scene for Cora and Astro, but after thinking about it for a long while…I thought going that route would be…cheesy ya' know? If you're one of those people that, like me, enjoys more the idea of a romance rather than just having it thrown right out there; I think you'll appreciate that I didn't add a 'I like you, do you like me?' scene. Last but not least, I want to thank all you guys who reviewed, favorited and followed me for all this time. Your praise meant a lot.

**-BerryCoffeeCake))**


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